Petersen set to face match-fixing trial in January

Cape Town - Former Proteas batsman Alviro Petersen will reportedly appear before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal early next year.

Petersen was charged with multiple breaches of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Anti-Corruption Code for Personnel (“the Code”) relating to the 2015 Ram Slam T20 Challenge tournament, and was provisionally barred from any involvement with the sport.

The Highveld Lions batsman had 14 days to respond to the charges under the provisions of the Code and has met the deadline, according to his lawyer Robin Twaddle.

Twaddle revealed that the opener "played along" with those involved in the scandal and was in constant contact with the investigators, leading to five other cricketers being barred, including 'ring-leader' Gulam Bodi.

Petersen was at one stage seen as the whistle-blower that saw his team-mates Bodi, Thami Tsolekile, Ethy Mbhalati, Pumelela Matshikwe and Jean Symes banned from the sport.

Petersen has insisted that he is innocent with Twaddle telling Cricbuzz that the cricketer had disputed certain aspects of the charges laid by CSA.

"We have filed the defence (on December 8)," Twaddle told Cricbuzz.

"The next step is for the tribunal to be convened. I'm not expecting anything before the New Year. There's a process set out in the Code."

The date for a full hearing will be decided after a preliminary hearing and the tribunal must announce its decision within 30 days of the hearing.

Petersen has played 36 Tests for the Proteas, scoring 2 093 runs at an average of 34.88.

After retiring from international cricket in 2015, he continued to play with success for the Lions and for English county Lancashire, while working as a television, radio commentator and newspaper columnist.