The match fixing controversy refuses to abate as more 'inside information' trickles out by the day, whether revelation or rumour it is unknown
The match fixing controversy refuses to abate as more 'inside information' trickles out by the day, whether revelation or rumour it is unknown. That's where the issue gets vexing: How much should the authorities believe?
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| Wahab Riaz is the fourth Pakistan player whose name has been associated with the match fixing controversy. PIC/AFP |
Friday was flush not just with stories about Pakistan's 'tainted trio' finally flying home after protracted suspense but also of some Sri Lankan players now being drawn into the ambit of investigation.
Along, of course, with Wahab Riaz, the young Pakistani seamer who was seen taking the jacket stuffed with 10000 pounds in hard cash from alleged bookmaker Mazhar Majeed. By the time this week is through, who knows there could be more players under a cloud.
I believe every lead is important and even a shred of evidence must be investigated thoroughly. It goes without saying that the guilty should be dealt with ruthlessly and given appropriate punishment. Cricket needs a purge to come back cleaner, better and regain the trust of its fans. Clearly an opportunity to do this was missed after the circa 2000 scam broke; the same mistakes cannot happen again.
And yet there is need for caution against random name-dropping and wild speculation.
Because the issue is so 'hot' and concerns the very existence of the sport, there is the danger of a purge becoming a pogrom, so to speak.
When such a volatile situation arises, it is not uncommon for people to settle old scores viciously, or confound the matter by throwing red herrings along the path of investigation.
For instance, the cricket world's been buzzing for over a week about a Sri Lankan player who could possibly be involved in spot fixing.
On Friday, from England emerged the name of Tillakaratne Dilshan while the Sri Lankan media speculated about Dilhara Fernando about which player was under scrutiny.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara later in the day, however, went public to scotch speculation about both players.
Indeed, it was suggested by the Lankan board that Fernando had in fact alerted the authorities about being approached by bookies, which is a 360 degree turn from being suspect to saviour!
This is where the situation gets tricky for authorities and loaded with danger for players. The scrutiny of suspects, therefore, has to be so rigorous as to ensure that the guilty are brought to book, but also the innocent are not assigned guilt.
What chagrins me greater, however, is that the suspects after the current scam broke all happen to be from the sub-continent so far. Some days back, it might be remembered there were stories from Australia about a disaffected Indian player allegedly rigging IPL matches which was subsequently debunked by the Indian authorities.
Even if the epicentre of betting and match fixing is indeed the sub-continent, it seems both silly and supercilious to believe that only Pakistan, Indian and Sri Lankan players are capable of such diabolical shenanigans. One hardly needs to be reminded that the entire South African team under Hansie Cronje once had a team meeting to decide whether to fix a match in Mumbai or not!
Yet, there is something for the sub-continent countries to learn about how to conduct cricket affairs. The PCB, for instance, looked the other way while much of the alleged mischief was taking place under the very nose of authority. When things got very hot the government of Pakistan predictably decided that India was to blame. Obviously even the people of the country are not buying that argument any more.
The BCCI meanwhile, has consistently tried to use its massive wealth as a buffer against all advice or allegation, believing it can do no wrong. The ugly mess that the highly-touted IPL became within a few weeks is testimony that such belief is hopeless misplaced.
By all accounts the Sri Lankan cricket establishment is in a sorry state, both financially and in its power structure. While officials here have not been as bull-headed as those in the PCB or as smug as those in the BCCI, it is clear that Colombo is rather like the Wild West when it comes to cricket politics.
This does not mean that other cricket boards have been exemplary as past records of Australia, England and South Africa would show. The danger to cricket is global and no country can claim exemption just because its players have not yet been named as suspect as yet.
There is clearly a need for the cricket world to unite in the fight against a scourge and hopefully this most serious issue does not turn into a tussle for brownie points between cricket boards aligned to one power block or the other.
That would cause the game even more damage than it has already suffered.
