MUMBAI: The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has re-scheduled Sri Lanka?s tour of West Indies to accommodate the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) by scrapping the two match Test series and replacing the ODI and T20 matches with a tri-series which will also feature India.

The move will be cheered by official media rights holder Ten Sports, which had recently renewed its rights with WICB for seven years beginning January 2013 through to 2020.

As part of the International Cricket Council?s (ICC) Future Tours Programme (FTP), Sri Lanka was originally scheduled to tour the Caribbean for two Tests, three ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals in 2013.

The limited overs portion of the Sri Lankan tour of the West Indies was originally scheduled for April/May, which would have clashed with IPL, which will take place from 3 April to 26 May.

The Sri Lankan tour of the West Indies was rescheduled to allow players from both teams to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the WICB said in a statement.

The two Tests have been deferred and will be played at a later date in the FTP cycle, it added.

The three teams will play the Caribbean in June and July next year in a seven match One Day International Tri Nation Series.

Each team will play the other two teams twice with the matches scheduled for Sabina Park in Jamaica and Queen?s Park Oval in Trinidad.

The Series will bowl off in Kingston on 28 June with the Windies tackling India. The final will be played on 11 July by the two teams with the most points after the six preliminary matches.

In addition to India and Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Pakistan will also tour the Caribbean in 2013, making it the first time four international teams will visit the region in a calendar year.

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said the umpires named in the sting operation conducted by news broadcaster India TV have been suspended pending further enquiry.

The news channel had recently conducted a sting wherein six international umpires from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were caught on camera agreeing to fix Twenty20 matches in exchange for bribes.

"The International Cricket Council (ICC) and its relevant Full Member Boards have agreed not to appoint any of the umpires named in a sting operation recently conducted by India TV to any domestic or international cricket matches pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations into the allegations made," the ICC said in a statement.

"The officials named are not contracted by the ICC and those Boards which employ and nominate the umpires directly will conduct the investigations as a matter of urgency," the ICC clarified.

The sting operation called "Operation World Cup" had revealed how umpires Nadeem Ghauri and Anees Siddiqui of Pakistan, Nadir Shah of Bangladesh, and Gamini Dissanayake, Maurice Winston and Sagara Gallage of Sri Lanka were willing to fix decisions and share information like pitch report, weather report, toss report and playing elevens in exchange for money.

The accused have however denied the allegations saying that they were trapped by the channel. The news broadcaster had said that the seventh umpire Sharfudoullah Shahid Saikat of Bangladesh refused to give any favour in lieu of money.

MUMBAI: Rajat Sharma helmed Hindi news channel India TV has done it again. The news channel has alleged that it has caught six international umpires from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on camera who are willing to fix Twenty20 matches in exchange for bribes.

In a sting operation, the six umpires who were exposed called "Operation World Cup" are Nadeem Ghauri and Anees Siddiqui of Pakistan, Nadir Shah of Bangladesh, and Gamini Dissanayake, Maurice Winston and Sagara Gallage of Sri Lanka. The news broadcaster said the seventh umpire Sharfudoullah Shahid Saikat of Bangladesh refused to give any favour in lieu of money.

The entire sting operation was aired on Monday prime time on India TV.

Earlier, India TV had carried out a sting operation revealing how domestic players were willing to indulge in corrupt practices in lieu for money and other favours like getting a place in an IPL team. The sting led to a probe by Anti-Corruption unit of BCCI and the subsequent ban on five players.

The India TV sting operation revealed how umpires were willing to share information about match like pitch report, weather report, toss report and playing elevens in exchange for money.

The sting operation also alleged how newly created franchise leagues like the Sri Lanka Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League are susceptible to fixing. It must be noted that BPL is already facing allegations of match fixing by certain players.

Bangladesh‘s Nadir Shah, one of the umpires to be caught on camera, revealed that Pakistan‘s opening batsman Nasir Jamshed ‘fixed‘ several matches during the Bangladesh Premier League.

Sri Lankan umpire Sagara Gallage, who was the fourth umpire at the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match on 17 September, had agreed to reveal the match pitch report, weather report, toss report, and even the playing elevens of both teams for a payment of Rs 50,000.

The channel alleged that he had promised to give decision against Pakistani batsman Imran Nazir in Sri Lanka Premier League. Galage also promised that he would get a decision in favour of India with the help of match referee.

Pakistan‘s Nadeem Ghauri was also willing to lend a helping hand to the Indian team through favourable decisions.

The International Cricket Council while asserting its zero tolerance towards corruption said none of the umpires shown on the sting were involved in ICC World Twenty20 games.

It also urged India TV to share information that would help ICC in its investigation.

"The ICC and its relevant members have been made aware of the allegations made by India TV this evening and calls on the station to turnover any information which can assist the ICC‘s urgent investigations into this matter," the ICC said in a statement.

"The ICC re-iterates its zero-tolerance towards corruption whether alleged against players or officials. The ICC confirms that none of the umpires named were involved in any of the official games of the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka."

Meanwhile, Pakistani umpire Nadeem Ghauri said there is no truth in the sting operation. He also said that he had not been in the international panel for the past two years.

MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council has signed Sports News Television (SNTV), Perform and Reuters News as distributors for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012 event.

These deals guarantee news broadcasters around the world will have access to news highlights from matches, press conferences, player interviews and event-related stories providing up-to-the-minute information to more than a billion viewers across the world.

ICC GM commercial Campbell Jamieson said, ?The ICC already has a long-standing relationship with SNTV and Reuters News. We are glad to have them on board for the next exciting installment of the ICC World T20 as they have an excellent distribution, global reach and have previously provided great support to all ICC events including those that form part of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme.

?We also welcome Perform as an ICC news access licensee for the first time at one of our major events. Their inclusion will further add to the distribution and reach of the event via Omnisport, their multi-platform daily sports news service.?

Reuters News Global TV Sports Editor Claire Watson said, ?Interest in sport crosses geographic borders and media platforms, so it is important to us to provide action highlights across all broadcast and online platforms globally, and with the ICC deal we can do this.?

SNTV is a sports video news agency supplying sports highlights, features and breaking news both to traditional television stations and a growing band of digital outlets. Through its clients, SNTV?s material can be seen in more than a billion households worldwide in more than 180 territories.

Reuters News provides real-time, high-impact, multimedia news and information services to newspapers, television and cable networks, and websites around the globe, reaching more than one billion people a day.

Omnisport is a progressive sports news services which enables multi-platform broadcasters to feed ready, formatted and cleared global sports news content across their TV, online and mobile services more easily and effectively. Omnisport is owned and powered by digital sports media group Perform.