Match-fixing investigator Sir Paul Condon has indicated that the West Indies Cricket Board is to set up an inquiry into allegations made against star batsman Brian Lara.

The WICB ruled out any action when bookmaker MK Gupta's claims against Lara appeared in a report produced by the Central Bureau of Investigation in India last year.

But the International Cricket Council is determined to establish whether there is any truth in allegations made by Gupta against a group of non-Indian players.

Gupta alleges that Lara received $40,000 (almost �28,000) to under-perform in two one-day internationals in India in 1994.

And when asked whether an inquiry by the WICB was imminent, Sir Paul said: "Watch this space over the next few days."

The others named by Gupta are Mark Waugh (Australia), Alec Stewart (England), Martin Crowe (New Zealand), Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva (Sri Lanka), Hansie Cronje (South Africa) and Salim Malik (Pakistan).

Their respective boards have all agreed to co-operate with the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit, headed by Condon, and the WICB is now expected to fall into line by setting up its own inquiry.

Public support

Members of the Unit have already spoken to Stewart and Waugh, who deny the allegations made against them.

"There must be a presumption that people are innocent until proven otherwise," Condon told journalists in Melbourne.

Lara has received public backing from senior figures within West Indies cricket.

Coach Roger Harper has been quoted as saying: "If Brian tells me he is not involved, that is good enough for me. I have every reason to trust him and believe what he says."

Lara's response when the allegations were first made public was unequivocal.

In a statement issued last November, he said: "I categorically deny taking money from a bookmaker or anyone else to underperform.

"I have passed this matter to my lawyers to take appropriate action and I will be making no further comment."

The ACU wants to speak to him, however, before Condon submits his first report to the ICC in April.

"What you may be faced with is a series of decisions in relation to individual players rather than a sort of big-bang approach on a particular date and an announcement about each and every one of them," Condon added.

ICC president Malcolm Gray announced on Saturday there would be a second judicial inquiry beginning shortly to look into allegations that Pakistan threw two matches during the 1999 World Cup in England.

The inquiry will probe Pakistan's defeats against India and tournament minnows Bangladesh.