The International Cricket Council and Cricket Australia both say they have seen no evidence of a corruption plot involving the third Ashes Test.

A report in The Sun claimed to contain secret recordings from two men offering to help spot-fix elements of the Perth Test. But Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said there was “no substance” to the claims and that the board has “absolute confidence” that no players have had illegal contact with fixers.

Sutherland met with the ICC’s anti-corruption manager Alex Marshall by conference call on Thursday morning, and said before the first day’s play at the Waca: “Based on the dossier of information the ICC has received from the news outlet [The Sun], there is no substance to these allegations, or justification to suspect that this Test match, or indeed the Ashes series as a whole, is subject to corrupt activities. We have absolute confidence in our players.”

The Ashes through the years Show all 24 1 /24 The Ashes through the years The Ashes through the years The Ashes England and Australia have battled for the little urn for over a hundred years with countless iconic moments along the way Getty The Ashes through the years One of England's first heroes was Sydney Barnes who starred as the series' were evenly contested until the First World War Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years England won only one Test out of 15 from the end of the war until 1925 with Herbert Sutcliffe one of few standouts Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Post-war the great Don Bradman put England to the sword time and again scoring 974 runs in a single series in 1930 Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years In 1956 Jim Laker produced the bowling display of a lifetime taking 19 of the possible 20 Australian wickets in an England victory at Old Trafford Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years England's dominance was short-lived with Richie Benaud skippering Australia to a dominant series win in 1959 Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Geoffrey Boycott entered the fray in the 1970s and was never too far away from the headlines Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Ray Illingworth guided England to success in Australia in the 1970/71 series Hulton Archive The Ashes through the years Allan Border's relentless will to win kickstarted an extended period of success for Australia in the eighties Getty The Ashes through the years Ian Botham's match-winning heroics at Headingley in 1981 remain one of the rivalry's most memorable and iconic moments Getty The Ashes through the years Steve Waugh was one of the stars as Australia ruthlessly seized control of the Ashes in the 1990s Getty The Ashes through the years Shane Warne exploded on to the scene in 1993 with the 'ball of the century' and would go on to torment England for years to come AFP The Ashes through the years Glenn McGrath played an integral part in the Australian dominance establishing himself as the pre-eminent seam bowler of his generation Getty The Ashes through the years The tide turned in 2005 with Steve Harmison's last-gasp wicket at Edgbaston proving vital to a famous recapturing of the urn Getty The Ashes through the years The 2005 series is widely-regarded as the greatest of them all Getty The Ashes through the years England came crashing back to earth in 2007 with Australia handing them an infamous whitewash before McGrath, Warne and Justin Langer all called it a day in Sydney Getty The Ashes through the years James Anderson and Monty Panesar's stout rearguard action in 2009 was key as England regained the Ashes Getty The Ashes through the years Alastair Cook was England's hero in 2011 with 766 runs and three centuries including an imperious 235* in Brisbane Getty The Ashes through the years Graeme Swann was outstanding with the ball too as England won the series 3-1 Getty The Ashes through the years Ian Bell top scored in the summer of 2013 as England kept the urn Getty The Ashes through the years Mitchell Johnson produced the form of his life to obliterate England in 2013/14 in a second whitewash in five series Getty The Ashes through the years Stuart Broad's memorable 8 for 15 at Trent Bridge saw Australia dismissed for 60 in one of the great fast bowling spells Getty The Ashes through the years Steve Smith starred as Australia bulldozed England in 2017/18 Getty Images The Ashes through the years Joe Root and Tim Paine captain the sides this time around Getty Images

He added that the timing of the report was “a bit strange”.

The Sun obtained its story by posing as financiers for illegal London bookmakers. During their conversations, the alleged fixers offered to rig elements of the Test, such as the number of runs in a particular over.

The report also claims that a former Australian player was involved in a plot to fix Big Bash matches. It makes clear that no England players or staff are implicated.

Australia captain Steve Smith reacted to the news before the start of play. “Obviously there is no tolerance, and no place for that in our game,” he said. “As far as I know, there is nothing that has been going on or anything like that.”