Sri Lanka captain Mathews was interviewed by financial crimes investigators on Tuesday, a day after Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) suspended a bowling coach over a supposed link to an alleged match-fixer.
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Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Monday (18) suspended the services of fast bowling coach Anusha Samaranayake and an assistant coach Gayan Vishwajith, who was identified as the “mystery net bowler” in connection with match-fixing allegations.
“The cricketers felt really uncomfortable in the last few days because they were the ones who came forward and reported this to the ICC (International Cricket Council) and SLC”, Mathews said.
Pursuant to a preliminary inquiry conducted in this regard Sri Lanka Cricket had chose to suspend Samaranayake for a period of two months until further investigations are concluded.
Two players were said to have refused the offer of around $70,000 and Sri Lanka beat the tourists by an innings and six runs after Rangana Herath took 10 wickets. However, the police investigation was launched after Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera lodged a formal complaint.
Speaking outside the police station, Mathews said: “They wanted to know, as the captain, if I knew anything in detail”.
“Then they both complained to the authorities and the sports minister”.
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 – when players deliberately bowl or field badly to give away a set number of runs.
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“Both players [Perera and Herath] had been approached by some people to lose the second test match against West Indies in Galle previous year”, a sports ministry official said.
