The 2018 Cricket Pitch Fixing scandal refers to the alleged doctoring of the pitch, a central strip of the playing field, in the home test matches of the Sri Lankan cricket team at the Galle International Stadium, as well as during the home test matches of the Indian cricket team.
Revelation
Revealed by Al Jazeera, a documentary claimed that the groundsmen at these matches deliberately altered the nature of the pitch in order to produce results that favored the home team. The news reports claimed that two of the four-pitch fixing offenses occurred in Galle, with the groundsmen at Chennai being accused of pitch-fixing charges after hosting the final Test Match of the series between India and England in 2016.
On 29 May 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) criticized Al Jazeera for failing to share conclusive evidence of pitch-fixing before broadcasting the documentary regarding the match-fixing allegations. Critics also speculated whether the Al Jazeera news network deliberately revealed false allegations, citing that Al Jazeera's findings may have been edited and modified before releasing its documentary film. However, on 26 May 2018, a shocking development revealed that the curator of Galle International Stadium, Tharanga Indika, had indeed been involved in the operation, with the discovery of camera footage linking him to the scandal. Indika subsequently admitted to doctoring the pitch to manipulate match outcomes. The match-fixing issue remains under investigation by the ICC.
The Al Jazeera news network has continuously refused to provide the pitch-fixing related evidence to the ICC stating that the lives of journalists are at risk. In July 2018, Australian cricketer Glenn Maxwell was indirectly accused by Al Jazeera's documentary as a chief suspect in the possible match-fixing allegations during the third Test match held between India and Australia which happened at Ranchi, a match where Maxwell recorded his maiden test century. Maxwell denied all of the allegations leveled against him and replied that he didn't have any need to do such a thing to spoil the moment of cricket.
Background
The pitch tampering incident involving both India and Sri Lanka is a developing controversy in international cricket following the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal.
Match fixing scandals in Sri Lanka have flared up in recent times, including alleged misconduct during a domestic first class cricket match between Panadura Cricket Club and Kalutara Physical Culture Club in 2017 with Chamara Silva who was the captain of the Panadura Cricket Club and Manoj Deshapriya being caught and banned by SLC for a certain period for being named in corruption allegations. Manoj Deshapriya, the captain of the Kalutara Physical Culture Club was also found guilty of match-fixing after the unusual scoring rate by Panadura side in a first class cricket match held in January 2017.
The match-fixing probe which has raised questions about the legitimacy of test cricket results was revealed by Al Jazeera just a few days after the announcement was made by the ICC that they were scrapping the traditional method of a coin toss in Test cricket matches to determine who would bat or bowl first. With regards to the match-fixing probe, the ICC cited that the host nation had been accused and found guilty of changing the pitch conditions to suit themselves in these longer format games.
The ICC also introduced a new rule on banning the use of smart watches and other electronic appliances on the field during play and in dressing rooms. The ICC called a ban on smart watches to avoid possible match fixing by implementing the new rule with immediate effect during the test series between England and Pakistan in 2018 barring the Pakistani players from wearing the smart watches during the first test.
Development
Robin Morris, a professional cricketer from Mumbai, was suspected by the ICC of playing a major role in match fixing during Sri Lanka home Test series against both Australia in 2016 and against India in 2017.