Sri Lanka are due to host England between October and November this year and Al-Jazeera has uncovered a match-fixing plot surrounding the upcoming series. The Qatar-based media network has also exposed previous incidents of pitch-alteration during two of Sri Lanka’s Tests against India and Australia.

According to the reports, the players involved in those games were certainly unware of these happenings. The Australian reports that Al Jazeera’s documentary will air allegations that the pitches used for the Test between Sri Lanka and Australia (in 2016) at Galle, and another Test between Sri Lanka and India the next year, at the same venue, were doctored.

Former Indian first-class player Robin Morris, Dubai-based Indian businessman Gaurav Rajkumar, the Galle stadium assistant manager Tharanga Indika, and another Sri Lankan first-class player Tharindu Mendis are the ones who have been directly involved in wicket-fixing ploys, revealed the investigation.

These four people were snared in a match-fixing sting where Morris said that he, along with the Indika, can make pitches which an dictate the results in a certain way. Indika revealed how he had doctored the pitch and turned it into a spinning track before the Sri Lanka-Australia Test, which had resulted in a victory for the hosts after their spin attack took 18 of Australia’s 20 wickets in two innings.

“We can make pitch do whatever we want,” Morris was quoted as saying by the Al Jazeera website. “What happens is he (Indika) - we - can make a pitch to do whatever we want it do to. Because he’s the main curator. He is the assistant manager and curator of the Galle stadium.”

“If you want a pitch for spin bowling or pace bowling or batting, it can be done,” Indika said to support Morris’ claim. “In that five-day match, we prepared the wicket poorly without using a roller. In that way we made a spinning wicket.”

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has launched its own investigation into the findings of the documentary and has revealed that it has been in contact with Al Jazeera since October 2017.

“The ICC is aware of an investigation into corruption in cricket by a news organization and as you would expect we will take the contents of the program and any allegations it may make very seriously,” read an ICC statement on its website.

“We have already launched an investigation working with anti-corruption colleagues from Member countries based on the limited information we have received.

“We have made repeated requests that all evidence and supporting materials relating to corruption in cricket is released immediately to enable us to undertake a full and comprehensive investigation.”