Dubai: A former Indian first class cricketer Robin Morris, who played for Mumbai and Orissa in the Ranji Trophy during the late nineties, is in the centre of a spot-fixing storm following a sting operation conducted by a Al Jazeera Television Network.

Huge posters inviting youngsters to join Morris’ cricket coaching camp can be seen in and around Versova, a suburb in Mumbai. Morris conducts his camp near Versova Welfare High School and Junior College. The Al Jazeera TV, through their documentary on corruption in cricket, has claimed that Morris admitted to his involvement in bribing a groundsman at Galle last year to alter the pitch during last July’s India-Sri Lanka Test match.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said it has launched an investigation. Alex Marshall, the ICC General Manager, ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, in a statement said: “The ICC has now had the opportunity to view the documentary into corruption in cricket and as we have previously stated, we are taking the contents of the programme and the allegations it has made extremely seriously. A full investigation led by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, working with full cooperation from all Member countries identified in the programme, is now under way to examine each claim made.”

ICC is now hoping that the broadcaster would provide un-edited portions of the programme. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, in a statement said: “The BCCI has a zero-tolerance approach to any activity or act that brings the game of cricket to disrepute or mars the integrity of the game. The BCCI anti-corruption unit is working closely with the ICC anti-corruption on the alleged claims by a television channel.”

Morris had played in the Indian Cricket League that got embroiled in huge controversies. He was employed with Bharat Petroleum but had quit his job recently stating that he did not want to work full time unlike how it was during his playing days.

The Al Jazeera programme revealed alleged incidents of spot-fixing in a Chennai match between England and India in December 2016 and the Australia-India Test in Ranchi in March 2017.

Former England captain Michael Atherton, through his column for an English daily, wrote that it is unlikely that top Test players would engage in such activity given the risks to their careers. “When it comes to betting and fixing, dangers are ever present. There is a massive black-market operation in India worth many billions of pounds,” he wrote.

With the England team also mentioned in the sting, their board has backed their players saying that there is no evidence to doubt their players.

Al Jazeera claims that an undercover reporter had spent 18 months — posing as a businessman and filmed criminal gangs involved in spot-fixing with a hidden camera on how they allegedly paid professional cricketers to fix matches.

England captain Joe Root said “It’s outrageous that England players have been accused in this.”