Richardson does not believe that the third ODI between Pakistan and England was fixed

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Dave Richardson has revealed that he is “not too suspicious” about the third ODI between Pakistan and England in Sharjah last Tuesday even though there are reports that it may have been fixed.

According to media reports, the match was being investigated by the ICC’s anti-corruption unit for unusual betting patterns.

It is also understood that investigators were tipped off prior to the match that Pakistan would deliberately under-perform, but the team have denied these claims.

The match saw three of Pakistan’s batsmen be run out in bizarre fashion, but Richardson is confident that the game was not fixed.

“Yes, there could be odd occasions there would be some strange run outs, in fact I have been run out on more occasions than I care to remember,” Richardson told the BBC. “Even Pakistan players themselves these days are reporting every approach that seems to come their way and I wouldn’t be too suspicious.

“I am pretty positive about where cricket is at the moment in the battle of keeping cricket clean, the level of education that the international players go through now.”