ICC bans former Zimbabwe Cricket director Enock Ikope for attempting to fix 2017 West Indies Test series

Dubai: Former Zimbabwe Cricket director Enock Ikope has been banned from the game for 10 years for corruption linked to the 2017 West Indies tour fix attempt. Ikope was found guilty of breaching three counts of the the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Code. [caption id=“attachment_3365946” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of the ICC logo. Reuters[/caption] Ikope’s suspension announced by the ICC on Wednesday follows the 20-year ban handed out to Rajan Nayer, a former senior Zimbabwe cricket official, in March 2018. Nayer, the treasurer and marketing director of the Harare Metropolitan Cricket Association, admitted to offering Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer US$30,000 to fix the result of the Test series with the West Indies, which the visitors won. Cremer informed then-coach Heath Streak of the approach and the matter was referred to the ICC. The ICC in a statement said Ikope had failed and obstructed to cooperate with its investigation, including the “deletion of data from his mobile phone before handing it over to the ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal. ICC general manager Alex Marshall said: “Non-cooperation and obstruction of our investigations by participants to the Code are simply not acceptable and I hope this and other recent sanctions sends out a clear message to anyone involved in the sport.” He added: “Once again we must thank an international captain, Graeme Cremer, for his absolute professionalism in recognizing the initial approach by Mr Nayer, rejecting and then reporting it. “We are thankful to him and to Zimbabwe Cricket for all the help during the investigations.”