 |
Scandal Overshadowed |
For years there were loud whispers that cricket was not as lily-white as the flannels and shirts the players sported and on April 7, the International Cricket Council's worst fears were realized. Indian police dropped a bombshell by announcing they had tapped phone calls between South African captain Hansie Cronje and an Indian bookmaker.
This revelation was met by disbelief in the cricketing world, where Cronje was thought of as one of the finest persons you would want to meet - a thorough gentleman. Few realized that his greed for money was greater than his love for the game. Cronje admitted only to receiving $100,000 (U.S.) from bookmakers. But it is diffic
ult to believe that a leading sporting
figure would jeopardize his career for a piddling sum when he
made five times that annually in endorsements alone.On the heels of Cronje's banishment from the sport by the South African cricket board, it was heartening to see Pakistan and India also leap into action to deal with match-fixing. India threw out former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma for life and imposed five-year bans on Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar. And Pakistan banned former captain Salim Malik for life and fined three others. All of the players, of course, have denied any wrongdoing.
A host of other players, including Brian Lara of the West Indies and Australia's Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, have also been fingered for match-fixing and involvement with bookmakers.Warne and Waugh were under suspicion as far back as 1994, but the Aussie board allowed the two to escape with a small fine and the West Indies Board simply did nothing about Lara.
Unfortunately, the ICC, a toothless organization, has turned a blind eye ever since 1992 when first reports of corruption and match-fixing surfaced.
What has since transpired left Sir Garfield Sobers of Barbados, the sport's greatest all-rounder, shocked. He couldn't believe that the likes of Azharuddin and Cronje had tarnished the sport. But after consulting with players around the world, he recently told The Star: "This is only the tip of the iceberg. I never, ever expected this to happen in cricket, but it seems some bigger names will face disgrace in the new year.''
The ICC, under new management, has set up an anti-corruption unit and apart from coming down hard on its players, it is hoped it will also probe the bookmakers who are connected to organized crime.
With the popularity of one-day cricket, there are reports that private promoters are lining their pockets and this will also have to be probed.
Unsubstantiated reports say some of the Sahara Cup games between Pakistan and India in Toronto were also rigged. This year, of course, the annual tourney was not staged after India refused to play because of armed hostilities over Kashmir. The two nations are
supposed to return in 2001, but don't hold your breath. Hopefully, the organizers will stage a one-day limited-overs tournament involving Pakistan and some other nation as a replacement for India.
Meanwhile, the match-fixing scandal overshadowed everything else on the pitch this year although few will forget the demise of West Indies as a cricketing power or Steve Waugh leading Australia to a world-record 15th straight Test victory.
Hopefully, cricket can clean up its act and regain the confidence of the public and its sponsors.
(Reprinted from the Toronto Star)