The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has banned former international Shariful Haque indefinitely after an inquiry found him guilty of spot-fixing, officials say.

The 36-year-old was accused of approaching national player Mashrafe Mortaza before the first edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) earlier this year with a view to arranging spot-fixing, BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus said on Tuesday.

“Shariful Haque has been banned from all cricketing activities for an indefinite period. We’ve also declared him persona non grata in all our venues and functions,” he told AFP.

“His activities around cricket will also be carefully monitored by the board.”

Haque, who played his only international match for Bangladesh against India in 1998, told AFP: “These charges are baseless and false.”

Although the off-spinner hasn’t played any cricket this year, he has not officially retired.

The BCB set up an inquiry after Mortaza, a former national captain, alleged that Haque offered him percentages of the winnings from spot-betting in return for advanced information on aspects of BPL matches.

“Mortaza was asked to provide information as to which types of caps and sunglasses he would wear during the BPL matches,” Sirajuddin Alamgir, BCB director and a member of the inquiry, told AFP.

The allegations, coupled with the arrest of a Pakistani national on separate spot-fixing charges, marred the BPL, the Bangladeshi answer to India’s high-octane Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Non-payment of fees to some overseas players also overshadowed the event.