Two players charged with fixing

The England and Wales Cricket Board has charged Lou Vincent and his former Sussex teammate Naved Arif with fixing the outcome of a county match, the governing body announced on Thursday.

Vincent, the former New Zealand batsman, who has already confessed to fixing in several countries, has been charged with a total of 14 offences in relation to two county matches in August 2011 - a Twenty20 match between Sussex and Lancashire and a 40-over game between Sussex and Kent.

Arif, a Pakistani, has been charged with six offences in relation to the 40-over game between Sussex and Kent in August 2011.

Chris Watts, the head of the ECB's anti-corruption unit, said in a board statement: "This has been an extremely complex and lengthy investigation co-ordinated across many jurisdictions around the world.

"This matter is now the subject of formal legal proceedings and we will therefore make no further comment other than to re-iterate our determination to bring to account the very small minority who seek to corrupt cricket." .

If the men are found guilty, it would be the first proven case of the result of a county match being fixed.

The Sussex-Kent match which was televised live and attracted bets totalling more than STG12 million ($A21 million) on one regulated gambling website alone, the highest total for any match of its kind in the past three years, and millions more on illegal markets in India.

It emerged last week, in leaked testimony to an International Cricket Council probe, that Vincent told investigators he was approached by his fixer "NG" the day before the match in a hotel in Brighton and that he received STG40,000 ($A73,000) to throw the game.

British newspaper The Telegraph added there were suspicions at the time the match was corrupt but it was cleared by the ICC's anti-corruption unit.

But the case was reopened in August 2012 by the ECB's own security unit, led by former Metropolitan Police detective Chris Watts.

The 32-year-old Arif was born in Pakistan and qualified as a non-overseas player for Sussex through his wife's Danish passport. He was released by Sussex in 2012.

There is no suggestion any other player from either team was involved in the alleged fix.

Sussex were cruising to victory despite Arif's expensive bowling.

He took the new ball but only bowled six overs and conceded 41 runs with two wides, an economy rate of 6.83.

In reply, Sussex looked set for a win at 76 for no wicket, chasing a target of 217.

But they lost four wickets for seven runs in four overs including that of Vincent who, batting at three, was run out for one off six balls.

Arif batted at nine and scored 11 off 29 balls as Sussex were bowled out for 202 to lose by 14 runs.

Arif was dropped for the next match against Middlesex and played only three more one-day matches for Sussex.

Whether Vincent, who is now in Auckland, and Arif will face criminal charges will depend upon whether British prosecutors decide if such action is the best use of taxpayers' money.

The controversial Lord's Test of 2011 led to three Pakistan players - Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer - being banned and jailed for their roles in a spot-fixing scam.

Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar revealed Thursday two cricketers were under investigation over possible corruption in this year's Indian Premier League, a T20 competition already reeling from betting and spot-fixing scandals.

Gavaskar, who has been put in charge of the Indian Premier League (IPL), said bookmakers made contact with a pair of unnamed players during the ongoing season, which the world cricket body was probing.

Asked if players have been approached this season, Gavaskar told the Press Trust of India news agency: "There have been a couple and it's been reported to ACSU. They are looking into it."

The troubled IPL has hired the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) to monitor the eight-team tournament which began in April.