Border confident no Aussies involved in match-fixing

BRISBANE, June 14 AAP - Former Test captain Allan Border is "praying" cricket's match fixing cancer had not spread to Australian players.

Border, speaking today after taking part in the Olympic torch relay through Brisbane, said he was confident but not "100 per cent certain" that no Australian players had been involved in match fixing.

Allegations about Australian players have surfaced at the King Inquiry in Cape Town.

South African businessman Jacques Sellshop gave evidence to the inquiry that he was told by Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar that match fixing was widespread and included Australian players.

World cricket's greatest Test rungetter said the scandal which erupted following admissions by former South African captain Hansie Cronje had hurt the game.

"I think no doubt it's been damaged, but hopefully we can do the right things and do something about it and get it back on track," Border said.

Akhtar was yet to be contacted about the conversation he allegedly had with Sellshop on a flight in South Africa.

Australia's former vice-captain Ian Healy called on Sellshop to back up his second hand claims.

"Claims have to be justified, this Shoaib Akhtar second and third hand one must get to Shoaib before any of those claims can be justified," Healy said today. "We can't afford to have claims made without evidence and without that person standing in the inquiry backing them up."

Border described the Sellshop claims as "wild innuendo".

But he acknowledged the game had been hurt by the widespread match fixing allegations.

"Now that the allegations are out you do sort of think about some games that have seemed dodgy or funny," he said.

"You'd have to say that there's certain things going on at present that makes you certainly wonder how far it has gone and how far goes back it goes.

"But I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the Australian teams haven't been involved.

"I'm very disappointed that the whole thing has come to this and I'm just praying that Australians aren't involved.

"You can't control what other countries do but hopefully in Australia we've got enough pride and passion in the baggy green cap to not get involved in that sort of stuff."

Asked if he thought Australians were implicated in match fixing, Border said: "I'm not 100 per cent certain but I'm as close as I can be to being certain that Australian teams aren't involved."

Healy said in hindsight, he could identify some matches he thought were a little suspect.

"I think there are some games which have already been mentioned - two one-day games against Pakistan and the obvious Test match where Salim Malik attempted to bribe Tim May and Shane Warne spring to my mind," he told Channel Nine's Today program.

"We didn't really think about this corruption thing until the last couple of years and we look back and realise it's been going on for a while."

The world record holding wicketkeeper said Cronje may have been targeted by bookmakers while growing increasingly frustrated at the number of "endless, short, meaningless tours" the South Africans were sent on.

"We in the Australian team never had that problem, we like playing cricket and we love playing for our country," he said.