Sri Lanka skipper questioned in fixing probe

COLOMBO — Sri Lankan police Tuesday questioned skipper Angelo Mathews as part of investigations into an attempt to bribe players to under-perform in a cricket Test against the West Indies. Mathews said the police Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) recorded a statement about what he knew of an approach to two Sri Lankan players to arrange a shock defeat at the hands of the West Indies at Galle last October. “This is about a player approach, no investigation against any of the cricketers,” Mathews said after spending over five hours at the FCID office in Colombo. He said he was questioned about what he knew of the approach made to Kusal Perera and Rangana Herath, to fix the result of a Test played at the Galle International stadium. The two players refused the offer of some $70,000 and Sri Lanka beat the tourists by an innings and six runs after veteran left-arm spinner Herath took 10 wickets. Mathews said it was the players themselves who had reported the approach. However, the police investigation was launched after Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera lodged a formal complaint. On Monday the Sri Lanka cricket board suspended its fast bowling coach Anusha Samaranayake for two months and sacked a part-time employee, net bowler Gayan Vishwajith, for their alleged roles in trying to bribe players. The FCID has already recorded statements from wicketkeeper Perera and Herath over the incident. Sports Minister Jayasekera told AFP last month that an unnamed man linked to a bookmaker had offered the two players some 10 million rupees (around $70,000) to lose the match. Although no big-name Sri Lankan player has ever been convicted of corruption, several former stars have made allegations of either match fixing or spot-fixing. Hauritz announces retirement Australia off-spinner Nathan Hauritz announced his retirement from competitive cricket Tuesday, bringing the curtain down on a 15-year career during which he represented the national side in all three formats. Hauritz, one of the many spinners Australia turned to after the retirement of bowling great Shane Warne, did not have a state contract for the last two seasons and was used by his Big Bash League side Melbourne Renegades for one match this season. The 34-year-old failed to take a wicket in that clash, against Perth Scorchers, and conceded 29 runs in his two overs. “I was just so shattered after the game,” he told reporters. “I realized I hadn’t come down here to be that disappointed about a game of cricket anymore. I thought ‘I don’t need that anymore’. I just want to get away. “The highs and lows (are too much). I need to get off that up-and-down rollercoaster and get back to a bit of normality in life. “I competed as hard as I could but I just felt that me competing as hard as I could wasn’t good enough.” Hauritz made his Australia debut in a One-Day International against South Africa in 2002 before playing his first Test against India in Mumbai two years later. He took 63 wickets in 17 Tests, the last of which he played against India in 2010. He has the same number of dismissals in 58 ODIs and also played three Twenty20 internationals for Australia.