ECB unit may talk to whistle blower Palladino on English county cricket spot fixing

London, Jan.18 (ANI): The England and Wales Cricket Board's anti-corruption unit has revealed that it wants to speak to Tony Palladino, the whistle-blower who reported Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield for spot-fixing, to see whether he can help them uncover more corruption in English cricket.

According to The Telegraph, seamer Palladino would have been the main prosecution witness had Westfield not pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey last week to accepting a corrupt payment to bowl in a way that would allow the scoring of runs.

Palladino, who now plays for Derbyshire, said in an interview over the weekend that he believed that other players had been involved in betting scams.

The ECB set up its own Anti-Corruption, Education and Security Unit last year under the chairmanship of Jane Stichbury, a former Chief Constable of Dorset.

The ACCESS Unit met for the second time earlier this month and is now attempting to speak to Palladino to establish whether he has evidence that might lead to further convictions.

"We have seen the comments made by Tony Palladino and we would like to speak to him," said an ECB spokesman.

"But we would stress that we are interested in hearing from any players who may have information with regard to corruption issues."

The ECB has offered a three-month amnesty to players and officials to report corruption activity without threat of sanction for not reporting earlier.

The amnesty was announced after Westfield became the first county player to be convicted of involvement in spot fixing. (ANI)

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