LONDON: Welcoming the Jamaican Police announcement that Bob Woolmer died of natural causes, the International Cricket Council has asked those who alleged that corruption is widespread in the game to "shut up".

"To those who suggest that corruption is still widespread throughout the game of cricket - and there have been plenty of people who have peddled such comments to anyone prepared to listen in the aftermath of Bob's unfortunate and untimely death - we have one clear message: put up or shut up," the head of ICC's Anti-Corruption unit Lord Paul Condon said.

"The reputation of both the World Cup and the game has been unnecessarily tarnished as the theories about Bob's death became wilder and more bizarre with many of those suggesting a link to corruption and match-fixing," he said in a statement.

"Now that the truth has been established, hopefully some balance will be restored and the efforts the ICC has made to clean up the game will be recognized," he said.

Condon said, "from the outset, the ACSU counseled an open-minded approach to Bob's death as, based on their cumulative police experience and knowledge of the alleged crime scene, the death and the location had none of the obvious hallmarks of a murder.

It remains a concern that the murder theory was so readily embraced." He said that people can feel confident that they are watching a genuine contest unaffected by outside influences. "In terms of cricket's ongoing fight against the corruptors, the game is now certainly in a much healthier state than it was seven years ago thanks to a raft of measures that have been introduced," he said.

"Let us now focus on events on the field and have cricket back in the headlines for all the right reasons."

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