A private T20 league in the United Arab Emirates has come under the radar of the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) of International Cricket Council (ICC) for suspected “irregular activities”. The ACU has launched a probe into it.
The tournament in question, the Ajman All Stars League, was called off on its second day after the local cricket authorities didn’t want them to continue using the Ajman Oval as the venue.
The suspicious match footage that went viral on a microblogging website was from a match featuring Dubai Stars and Sharjah Warriors. Chasing 136 runs for a win, the Sharjah Warriors were all out for 46 runs in the most bizarre way possible. Their innings included five stumpings and four run outs. In all the dismissals it appeared as if the batsmen wanted to get themselves out. Thus, the match ended up grabbing eyeballs for all the wrong reasons.
The tournament being a private one didn’t come under the purview of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) or the ICC. It involved expatriates from a number of South Asian countries, and a few former international players.
In a statement released on its website on Wednesday, ICC confirmed that they are probing the match.
There is currently an ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) investigation underway in relation to the Ajman All Stars League held recently in Ajman, UAE. The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit works to uphold integrity in Cricket and in keeping with that role we are talking to players and officials and will not make any further comment at this time.Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager – Anti-Corruption in a statement.
The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) also confirmed in a statement on its website that it did not give any kind of approval for the staging of the tournament.
“The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) is aware that the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) is currently investigating the All Stars T20 Ajman, that took place in Ajman, UAE recently. The ECB can confirm that it did not approve the staging of this tournament, and has advised the ICC accordingly,” said Zayed Abbas, Emirates Cricket Board Member and Spokesperson.
The Ajman Oval has been suspended by the ECB from hosting any matches in future due to this incident.
“Ajman Oval has been found to be in violation of the affiliation agreement with Ajman Cricket Council and conducting disapproved cricket. We had no option but to suspend the affiliation of Ajman Oval,” said Shaji Ul Mulk, Secretary General of Ajman Cricket Council in a statement on the website.
The cricketing fraternity took to Twitter to express their shock and also managed to look at the funny side of the incident.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)