Six top cricketers - including England captain Alec Stewart - are set to be cleared of corruption charges after a refusal by Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta to testify before investigators.
Two members of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption unit visited Gupta's home in New Delhi yesterday but failed to persuade him to give evidence.
Some reports say the investigators met Gupta, and that he was unwilling to testify, while others say the bookmaker was away from home.
Either way, the ICC have confirmed investigators Geoff Rees and Alan Hawkins have returned to England.
Stewart, currently England captain with Nasser Hussain absent injured, is now likely to be proclaimed innocent by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) before the Ashes series gets underway on July 5th.
A report into match-fixing by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) quotes Gupta as saying he paid Stg£5,000 to Stewart during England's 1992-93 tour to provide information about the wicket and team composition, a charge the England player has always strenuously denied.
Gupta told the CBI he was introduced to Stewart by former Indian Test cricketer Manoj Prabhakar, but added the Englishman refused to fix any matches for him.
Other cricketers likely to now be officially cleared include Brian Lara, Mark Waugh, Martin Crowe, Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva.
The ICC's chief investigator Paul Condon warned last week that if Gupta did not come forward by July 1st he would drop the inquiry against Stewart and other cricketers.
Condon and his team have already spoken to Gupta at two meetings earlier this year, the most recent in March.
The CBI report, based mainly on Gupta's testimony, led to a life ban being imposed on former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin and five-year suspensions on Ajay Jadeja, Prabhakar and Ajay Sharma.
The CBI, however, says it has no power to investigate foreign players and has passed on all its information to the ICC.
PA