Make no mistake about it, the reputation of cricket lies in tatters this morning after sensational revelations of ‘spot-fixing’ by the News of the World, relating to the current Test Match at Lord’s, between England and Pakistan.

For clarity, it needs to be made clear that there is no suggestion that the match, or any other in the series, has been fixed. Spot-fixing relates to betting on certain individual instances in a match, for example betting on when the first wicket might fall, the first boundary scored, or even how many runs will be scored in a specific over.

It is not the first time this year that spot-fixing has hit the headlines, with the arrest of two Essex players, including Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, earlier this season over what would prove to be unsubstantiated allegations.

These current claims relate to Pakistani bowlers bowling No-Balls at specific point of the match. It would be wrong to make undue inferences until further details emerge, but an initial view of the deliveries in question raise grave concern.

The prodigious youngster, Mohammad Amir, is shown to overstep on two separate occasions by an alarming margin, as is his colleague Mohammad Asif on another. As someone who has played a good standard of cricket, and observed the sport religiously throughout his life, I can attest that the distances by which the line was overstepped on these occasions is unusual for top class performers.

It has been said that it is nigh on impossible to monitor spot-fixing within sport, given the random and high volume nature of events on which people can now bet. It has also been well documented that the sports betting syndicates, notably those in Asia, are continuing to wield an unhealthy influence within sport.

This is not confined to cricket. Former World Snooker Champion, John Higgins, is alleged to have enquired about betting against himself in a World Championship Final, and one of the most high profile cases in football surrounded former Liverpool goalkeeper, Bruce Grobbelaar.

Cricket has certainly not been immune to scandal, with the affair surrounding the late Hansie Cronje shaking the foundations of the game to its core in 2000. He was the highest profile victim in a series of investigations that would see many big names implicated and exonerated in an ongoing game of ‘Chinese Whispers’. Others who would receive lifetime bans were former international captains, Salim Malik and Mohammad Azharrudin.

The ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit has continued with its program, but rumours have continued to abound about suspicious betting on cricket. However, nothing has been quite as pointed as the accusations made last night.

Devastating though these claims may be, they present the International Cricket Council with a renewed opportunity to act decisively in the quest to clean up the sport loved by so many.

If players are guilty, they should be punished heavily without exception, dependent on the findings of ongoing investigations, and if this includes life bans, so be it. Whilst this would be tragic in the case of the 18 year-old and highly touted Amir, it would represent a message that no corruption will be tolerated in the sport.

Cricket tonight stands at a crossroads, on the point of a damaging crisis. However, with adversity comes opportunity. The ICC must use every weapon in its artillery to send out a message to players, betting syndicates and fans, that it will act in the best interests of cricket, and will protect cricket from an endemic which threatens to destroy the very fabric of the gentleman’s game.

Rohan Kallicharan

I am the editor of hetoreahamstring.co.uk and also have a personal site at rohankallicharan.co.uk. I am passionate about all sports and would probably pay over the odds from a tout to watch the world tiddlywinks final. I was fortunate to grow up inside the dressing room of the legendary West Indian cricket team of the 1970/80s - this has, I hope, given me a real insight into sport as a whole and the mindset of successful sportsmen. I played cricket and rugby at representative level as a youth, and also have a UK College Bowl winning medal in American Football! My real passions are West Indian cricket and Liverpool Football Club but I will write about much more! I hope you enjoy the site.

More Posts

Follow Me: