England, Windies officials refuse to comment on report

England cricket team officials were silent on Wednesday after former captain Alec Stewart was named in India's potentially explosive match-fixing report.

The Central Bureau of Investigation report claims bookmaker Mukesh Gupta paid Stewart 5,000 pounds (3,460 dollars) for pitch, weather and team information.

"We are in constant touch with the England and Wales Cricket Board in London, and Stewart or any other official will not make any comment until the report is made public," team spokesman Andrew Walpole said.

The England opener and wicketkeeper was among nine foreign cricketers named by the bookie as having taken money either for information or to influence the outcome of matches.

No concrete proof of Gupta's allegations is provided in the CBI report, which was presented to the Indian government on Monday.

Stewart is not playing in the four-day match against the Patrons XI which started in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

In Kingston, the head of the West Indies Cricket Board said he would not comment on an Indian government report that allegedly accuses former West Indies captain Brian Lara and others of involvement in a match-fixing scandal.

"So far all we can hear is sources saying this and that without a shred of evidence," board president Pat Rousseau was quoted as saying in The Observer newspaper. "Until we do, it is unfair to fuel the rumour mill."

Cricket board chief executive Gregory Shillingford told AP on Tuesday that British investigators had interviewed Lara. Shillingford said he believed they were seeking evidence against an alleged bookmaker.

"It was simply a matter of Brian verifying that he had been approached by an Indian bookmaker during one of his stopovers in London and that he had told the man he wanted nothing to do him," Shillingford said.

Lara has denied any involvement. He was scheduled to leave Jamaica last night with the West Indies for their tour in Australia.

Mail Cricket Editor