Lankan cricketers deny being approached by bookies

“I am totally surprised to hear that someone offered us money to do this. It is news to me and it does not really look good. I think there should be an inquiry into the matter,” he was quoted as saying in Daily Mirror on Tuesday.

He also denied the report that the three had sought police protection following rejection of the bookie’s offer.

“There was no reason for us to make any official complaint and we did not seek any police protection during the series referred to,” he said. The report was also denied by Duleep Mendis who was the team coach at that time.

“As far as I know, none of the players had anything to do with the bookies. I will welcome any inquiry,” he said.

Former Sri Lankan Board president Thilanga Sumathipala, whose restaurant here has been mentioned in the report as place at which the bookies approached the players, also dismissed the report as irrelevant. “This has no relevance and during my tenure in the Board, players had never been involved with the bookies,” he said.

However, Board chief executive Dhammika Ranatunga, brother of former captain Arjuna Ranatunga, has ruled out any inquiry saying there was no enough evidence to prompt an inquiry. “There is a lot of loose talk these days. We have to be careful in what we do. But if there is enough substance, we can look into the matter,” he said.