BCCI ends issue of 'anonymous calls'

NEW DELHI, MAY 15. The Indian cricket board has closed the matter of alleged ``anonymous calls received by Australian cricketers at Chennai during the third and final cricket Test as a dead issue.''

According to sources, the board had received a letter from David Rogers of the Australian Cricket Board on March 24 by fax informing that ``Colin Miller, Adam Gilchrist and coach John Buchanan received anonymous calls seeking information about the Test match in Chennai.''

The letter had also advised BCCI not to take any action for the present as the matter has been referred to sir Paul Condon, ICC's investigator. The ACB letter also asked BCCI to await instructions from Condon.

The sources, however, said BCCI secretary J.Y. Lele had written to all the hotels where both the Indian and Australian teams were to stay that ``no telephone calls should be connected to any player or official of both the Indian and Australian teams unless the caller indentifies himself and the receiver also agrees to receive the call.''

BCCI had written such a letter long before ACB intimated it. ``In fact, it was a routine affair even according to the rules and decisions of ICC after the `match-fixing allegations in April last year,' they said.

Meanwhile, the question that is now being asked is why the Australian cricketers took the calls in the first place and then term them as `anonymous' and also as to why such allegation was raised after the Australians had returned home.

However, as far as BCCI is concerned the matter is closed as a `dead issue', the sources added.

- PTI

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