2010 news article
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=6057
Following a report in Britain’s Guardian newspaper yesterday that a leading Sri Lankan player had been constantly monitored by the International Cricket Council’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), questions have been asked whether a leading cricket agent here in Colombo was twisting things exposing players managed by other agents while safeguarding a player managed by him.
The Guardian report titled, ‘Sri Lanka player under ICC spotlight’, said that ICC Anti Corruption Unit had been monitoring the activities of a leading Sri Lankan player, but didn’t give any indications about a young Sri Lankan all-rounder managed by this agent, who is also under scrutiny.
Charlie Austin, a British National is the Sri Lankan head of a popular cricket website and manages several leading Sri Lankan cricketers, including the young all-rounder who’s believed to have come under the spotlight after patronizing a casino during the T-20 World Cup in England last year along with the leading player, mentioned in the report.
The Guardian report was written by cricket writer David Hopps, who is a business partner of Austin. Both are directors of Red Dot Tours, a travel agent company established in Sri Lanka.
Questions have been now asked whether the story was planted to expose the ‘leading Sri Lankan cricketer’ while safeguarding the all-rounder although both players are supposed to be under scrutiny according to a leading Sunday newspaper here.
Both players were frontrunners for Sri Lanka’s vice-captain’s job when Muttiah Muralitharan announced his retirement and ‘The Island’ reliably learns that the duo were overlooked as there were allegations against them. Later the national Selection Committee made a surprise move when they named former captain Mahela Jayawardene as the vice-captain.
Austin is believed to have used his contacts in British media earlier also to severely criticize players not managed by him and the move triggered serious divisions among national cricketers on several occasions, most notably when Sri Lanka were in England to play a three Test series in 2006.
Austin had been also disliked by cricket administrations over the years for his manipulative methods, most notably during the stand off last year when Sri Lanka Cricket wanted players to take part in a Test series in England, but the players refused due to loss of revenue from the Indian Premier League.
It has been since revealed that had Sri Lanka’s cricketers not taken part in the IPL, Austin would have lost out on a significant portion of commission, which was actually more than that of most players.
A very senior Sri Lankan cricketer alone is supposed to have paid close to 100,000 US$ as commission to Austin for one edition of the IPL. For all three editions of the IPL, the cricketer is believed to have so far paid close to 300,000 US$.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=6057
Following a report in Britain’s Guardian newspaper yesterday that a leading Sri Lankan player had been constantly monitored by the International Cricket Council’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), questions have been asked whether a leading cricket agent here in Colombo was twisting things exposing players managed by other agents while safeguarding a player managed by him.
The Guardian report titled, ‘Sri Lanka player under ICC spotlight’, said that ICC Anti Corruption Unit had been monitoring the activities of a leading Sri Lankan player, but didn’t give any indications about a young Sri Lankan all-rounder managed by this agent, who is also under scrutiny.
Charlie Austin, a British National is the Sri Lankan head of a popular cricket website and manages several leading Sri Lankan cricketers, including the young all-rounder who’s believed to have come under the spotlight after patronizing a casino during the T-20 World Cup in England last year along with the leading player, mentioned in the report.
The Guardian report was written by cricket writer David Hopps, who is a business partner of Austin. Both are directors of Red Dot Tours, a travel agent company established in Sri Lanka.
Questions have been now asked whether the story was planted to expose the ‘leading Sri Lankan cricketer’ while safeguarding the all-rounder although both players are supposed to be under scrutiny according to a leading Sunday newspaper here.
Both players were frontrunners for Sri Lanka’s vice-captain’s job when Muttiah Muralitharan announced his retirement and ‘The Island’ reliably learns that the duo were overlooked as there were allegations against them. Later the national Selection Committee made a surprise move when they named former captain Mahela Jayawardene as the vice-captain.
Austin is believed to have used his contacts in British media earlier also to severely criticize players not managed by him and the move triggered serious divisions among national cricketers on several occasions, most notably when Sri Lanka were in England to play a three Test series in 2006.
Austin had been also disliked by cricket administrations over the years for his manipulative methods, most notably during the stand off last year when Sri Lanka Cricket wanted players to take part in a Test series in England, but the players refused due to loss of revenue from the Indian Premier League.
It has been since revealed that had Sri Lanka’s cricketers not taken part in the IPL, Austin would have lost out on a significant portion of commission, which was actually more than that of most players.
A very senior Sri Lankan cricketer alone is supposed to have paid close to 100,000 US$ as commission to Austin for one edition of the IPL. For all three editions of the IPL, the cricketer is believed to have so far paid close to 300,000 US$.
