Bermuda’s cricket rivals Canada investigated
One of Bermuda’s biggest cricket rivals in the Americas region, Canada, is being investigated by the International Cricket Council on allegations of corruption.
The claims of corrupt activity against Cricket Canada were aired in a documentary yesterday and included Canada’s T20 World Cup game against New Zealand this year.
In the investigative documentary Corruption, Crime and Cricket by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, it was claimed that captain Dilpreet Bajwa’s fifth over against New Zealand was under the scrutiny of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit.
The 22-year-old Bajwa was named Canada captain just three weeks before the tournament, jointly co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
New Zealand were 35-2 when Bajwa started the fifth over with a no-ball, then bowled a leg-side wide ball before eventually conceding 15 runs off the over.
“The ACU is aware of the programme broadcast by CBC,” Andrew Ephgrave, the interim general manager of the ICC’s integrity unit, told the Associated Press in a statement.
“Consistent with its established operating procedures, the ACU is not in a position to comment on the substance of any allegations contained within it.”
The documentary also included other allegations of corruption within Cricket Canada. A former Canada team coach, Pubudu Dassanayake, was interviewed in the documentary and claimed there was undue influence on the team selection process during the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Canadian players also faced delayed payment of their share of the prize money from the 2024 T20 World Cup. The documentary claimed national team players were not contracted from July 2025 before they were put on retainers for four months before this year’s T20 World Cup.
To qualify for their second straight T20 World Cup, Canada defeated Bermuda twice when they hosted the Americas Regional Final in Ontario last June.
Bajwa was also part of the Canadian team which secured their maiden appearance at the T20 World Cup, when they won the regional final in Bermuda in October 2023.
