While Melbourne gangland killer Carl Williams was being beaten to death in his maximum-security cell, warders charged with guarding him were guarding their stumps in an indoor cricket match.
A Corrections Victoria inquiry into the death has uncovered the cricket match, the Herald Sun newspaper reports on Tuesday.
The newspaper said stumps was declared on the cricket match about the same time Williams was killed in the Acacia unit of Barwon Prison, near Geelong.
Staff did not see the attack on closed-circuit television although it was captured by CCTV cameras.
Williams's absence was not noticed until 30 minutes after he was bashed.
A fellow inmate has been charged with bashing Williams to death, using part of an exercise bike.
The newspaper reports there was no suggestion the cricket match and the killing of Williams were linked, but it said Corrections Victoria management was alarmed by news of the game and has warned staff there should be no repeat of the practice.
A Corrections Victoria spokesman declined to comment to the Herald Sun, saying it would be inappropriate to comment while three investigations into Williams' death continued, all overseen by the Office of Police Integrity.
