Australia sets date for its own inquiry into bribes

Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive Malcolm Speed said Wednesday the Lahore-based court would sit in Melbourne on January 8.

It will question Waugh, Warne and former ACB chairman Alan Crompton.

The court wanted to hear from Warne and Waugh after they admitted contact with an illegal Indian bookmaker during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka in 1994.

The pair, who say former Pakistan captain Salim Malik tried to bribe them to throw a match, revealed earlier this month that they took 11,000 dollars (6,600 US) from a bookmaker for information about the weather and state the pitch.

Crompton was team manager at the time.

The Australian players were fined by the ACB soon after they took the money but the Board kept the incident secret, sparking claims of a cover-up.

Neither Waugh nor Warne had been keen on returning to Pakistan to give further evidence.

Speed also announced Wednesday that an independent Australian inquiry into the effect of gambling on cricket would begin on January 12, although preliminary interviews will start on January 4.

The probe, to be headed by Queensland lawyer Rob O'Regan, will last for three weeks with the report made public at the end of February.

O'Regan said the inquiry would be held in private as that was the best way to achieve results.

The ACB made the move after another Australian Test batsman, Ricky Ponting, dropped for the upcoming fourth Ashes Test against England, said last week a Sydney bookmaker offered him money a year ago for information about pitch conditions.

Former Australian Test player Dean Jones has also told of refusing to deal with a bookmaker on the subcontinent in 1992.

Jones has already stated his desire to give testimony to the ACB inquiry.

Two other former Test players, Australian Greg Matthews and New Zealander Danny Morrison, were also approached by bookmakers.

O'Regan said he wanted to interview all Australian cricketers since 1992 and also former ACB officials about any involvement with gambling on the sport.

While his inquiry has no power to force anyone to give evidence, O'Regan said he expected cooperation because former cricketers risked a tarnished image if they did not agree to interviews.

``It has no compulsory powers but that doesn't mean it can't do its job effectively,'' he said. ``I expect people will cooperate; it will look pretty odd if they don't.

``We can't summon them, we can't require them to produce records ... we can exhort them to appear and apply a bit of friendly persuasion.

``It will be a private inquiry not for any sinister reason but simply because in my view, based on some experience, that is the best way at arriving at the truth.''

His investigation will begin as cricket's international hierarchy finally tackles the previously taboo topic of gambling.

The O'Regan inquiry should be one of three probes into cricket's most vexed issue, with the International Cricket Council likely to launch its own inquiry into gambling on cricket at a meeting in Christchurch next month.

Speed said he hoped O'Regan's inquiry would not only put an end to the betting saga but repair Australia's damaged cricket reputation.

``I've said a number of times Australian cricket has a very high reputation but, yes, it has been damaged and it's incumbent on those of us administering cricket at the moment to rectify that damage,'' he said.