No evidence of vote-fixing: ICC

The International Cricket Council has "seen no evidence" to back up claims that a recent vote on the make-up of its Cricket Committee was fixed but is considering a request to present the matter to its ethics officer.

Laxman Sivaramakrishnan

The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations claimed on Tuesday that the vote to elect player representatives to the panel had been unduly influenced by un-named full member boards, resulting in their chief executive Tim May being replaced by former India spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan.

Captains' call
Captains from the 10 Test playing nations voted each anonymously for two of the three candidates - May, Sivaramakrishnan and Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara.

FICA feel May was voted down from the committee as a result of some captains being leant on from above, claims the ICC have yet to substantiate but have also yet to formally investigate.

The ICC did confirm that the vote had to be re-taken after confusion over the mechanics of the initial process.

FICA Chief Executive Tim May

"The ICC can confirm that it has received a written request from the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) to refer the matter to the Ethics Officer," a statement read.

"This request is being considered, but in view of the allegations already appearing in the media, the ICC wishes to state for the record that the re-vote took place according to the determined procedure and that the ICC has seen no evidence that supports allegations now being made that captains were put under pressure by their Member Boards to vote for a particular individual."

Strong statement
FICA had earlier distributed a strongly worded statement of their own on the subject.

Their international legal advisor Ian Smith said: "FICA's official stance is that these allegations must warrant careful and independent scrutiny; especially because we understand ICC specifically instructed the boards not to interfere in the voting process.

"The actions...are a timely and stark reminder of the very serious shortcomings in governance at ICC highlighted more than a year ago by the Woolf report and about which ICC has done nothing in the intervening period.

"It is further apparent from statements made by unnamed ICC board sources overnight that they are trying to position the involved boards' actions as ‘lobbying', but there should be a very clear distinction made between a candidate lobbying for a vote and an employer threatening an employee to change their vote."

Former West Indies captain and FICA president Jimmy Adams added his voice to the call. He said: "The ICC's actions in this matter cast serious doubt, if not on its ability, certainly on its willingness to adhere to proper governance.

"Executives have stood aside while apparently watching their own process corrupted by their own board members. We call on ICC to hold itself up to the high standards of moral conduct it constantly tells the players and officials it expects from them."