Sport 02-11-2000 I`m Innocent Says Alec who: Alec Stewart what: Denies charges of match fixing where: Pakistan when: Yesterday snippet: England`s former captain Alec Stewart has denied receiving £5,000 from an Indian bookmaker in the latest scandal to hit international cricket. In a report by India`s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), bookmaker Mukesh Gupta claimed that he received information from Stewart - one of 15 players named - on pitch and weather conditions during England`s tour of India and Sri Lanka in 1993. "The England and Wales Cricket Board said Stewart had never met the bookmaker and was willing to cooperate with any inquiry," reports The Guardian. The Board stated that Stewart would not be suspended. But, says The Telegraph, this appears to contradict assurances from ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin that any player under suspicion would be removed from the game until proven innocent. "MacLaurin`s words have now been shown to be empty, though he tried to argue yesterday that he was only talking about players who refused to co-operate with an official enquiry." "I`ve been advised by the ECB to add nothing to their statement," Stewart told The Sun`s John Etheridge yesterday, reportedly close to tears after "a sleepless night and a tormented day". His wife Lynn said only "All this is totally untrue". [... more]

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