Marlon Samuels' mother Daphe Lunan has admitted that the West Indies all-rounder is a friend of alleged bookmaker Mukesh Kochar but denied allegations of her son being involved in match-fixing during the recent one-day series against India.
Ms Lunan said her son and Kochar have been friends for over six years and claims that she seven spoke with the alleged Indian bookmaker.
''This is a long time friendship of over six years now. When Marlon incurred a foot injury Kochar called him and encouraged him to continue playing and not to worry,'' she told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday.
The mother of eight said her son's relationship with Kochar was not about cricket and the two shared a good rapport outside the game.
''When he is not playing, Kochar calls him; that's it,'' Ms Lunan said.
''He calls me all the time. He is a big man and says Marlon must call him and talk to him; that's how I got to know him,'' she added, as she detailed her interaction with the Indian.
Ms Lunan said she was still in shock after hearing about her son's alleged involvement in leaking out team information to bookies.
''I was so shocked to hear that; right now I'm feeling so nervous because I don't believe Marlon would get into these things. That would be so surprising. I don't think he can do this because when you fix matches, don't you have to collect the money? He has not done anything like that so far,'' she said.
The Nagpur police said the West Indian contacted a bookie in New Delhi by telephone during the series against India last month.
Samuels, it is alleged, called Kochar, a Delhi-based bookie, by telephone from his hotel room after the team arrived in Nagpur for the first match of the series.
The police, however, are still to establish if there was any match-fixing in Nagpur.
A report of the investigations has been sent to ICC as well as the Board for Control of Cricket in India.
Meanwhile, Jamaican cricket officials refused to respond to the allegations against Samuels and said they were yet to receive any official word on the matter.
''I'm sure that the powers that be are making all the investigations into the matter. I'm unable to make any comment because I'm not in possession of any facts at all,'' president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) Jackie Hendriks said.
''I heard about it (reports about Samuels) earlier, but it was a rumour at the time and I didn't think it was necessary to make any further comment,'' he added.
