Lara denies charges

West Indies batsman Brian Lara refuted charges by an Indian bookmaker who has claimed he had paid him to "underperform" during two one-day matches in India in 1994.

"I categorically deny taking money from a bookmaker or anyone else to underperform," Lara said in a statement issued by the West Indies Cricket Board secretariat in St.John's, Antigua on Wednesday.

The former West Indies captain arrived in London on Wednesday with the West Indies team for an overnight stop on its way to its forthcoming tour of Australia, to learn that India's Central Bureau of Investigation report into match-fixing included evidence that a prominent bookmaker had given him "around dlrs 40,000" to "underperform" in the two matches on the tour of India in late 1994.

Team manager Ricky Skerritt told the Associated Press from the team's hotel at London's Heathrow Airport that Lara was unfazed by the claims that had been first hinted at in newspaper reports in Jamaica before the team's departure on Tuesday.

"Brian is in great spirits," Skerritt said. "He is aware of it, we have spoken about it and, as far as he's concerned, it never happened. He's not even prepared to discuss it further."

Mail Cricket Editor