Sport 03-11-2000 Stewart Hopes His Reputation Will Survive who: Alec Stewart what: Publicly denies match-fixing charge where: Pakistan when: Yesterday snippet: "Alec Stewart yesterday defended his integrity in public," reports The Guardian`s Mike Selvey from Rawalpindi in Pakistan, following Wednesday`s allegations by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that the former England captain accepted money from a bookmaker for privileged information about the England team. Stewart, who completely denies the charges, told a press conference that he still hoped his good reputation would survive. "I believe I will be remembered as a person who gave his all for his country in every capacity," he said, "and as a very good English cricketer, not just in England but throughout the world." "The England and Wales Cricket Board have accepted Stewart`s denial," reports Simon Briggs in The Telegraph. They have called on Sir Paul Condon, head of cricket`s Anti-Corruption Unit, to review the CBI`s evidence. "Two of Sir Paul`s specialist investigators are due to fly in to Delhi today." "If I was a betting man, I`d bank on Alec Stewart being innocent," says David Gower in The Sun. "That is not meant to sound flippant. Only that the lack of hard evidence means we can do no more than back our hunches." [... more]

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