Cricket news: Mathew Hayden and Rashid Lateef express disappointment over current cricket controversies
Mathew Hayden has termed complete eradication of corruption from cricket as impossible. He expressed his views in context with rising controversies linked with match-fixing. According to Mathew Hayden, investment on development of strategies to counter the corruption is very limited, as compared to the scope of game and the competing investment by the illegal bookmakers. Cricket is played along a very long geographical boundary involving different continents.
Hayden expressed his opinion while talking to the Hindustan Times. He regarded the network of illegal gambling to be widespread. The bookmakers have grown in strength both financially and in terms of their links. Hayden urged the players to maintain the integrity of the game, and counter the gambling threat with personal character. It is very important to face the corruption level at individual level. Hayden said that personal integrity could play a vital role in upholding the glory and traditions of Cricket Game.
Hayden also stressed upon the administrators to be extra vigilant and careful about their teams. According to Hayden, the efficiency and efficacy of an administrator is actually the measurement of his deep knowledge about his team. Administrators must maintain a check on the interaction of their players, and he must devise a code of conduct for every member of the team.
Hayden asserted that being a player entails certain responsibilities on the individual. Every player is entrusted with the responsibility to honour the game and remain loyal to the integrity of the cricket sports.
Similarly with the generation of recent controversy about match-fixing, another former Pakistani veteran cricketer expressed his views. Rashid Lateef, former Pakistani wicket-keeper who himself gained prominence in one of the match-fixing scandals related to Pakistani team. Rashid Lateef gave evidence of match-fixing against some of the players in Pakistani team.
Rashid Lateef lambasted the ICC’s anti corruption and security unit and termed it a toothless body. He was equivocal in criticizing the anti corruption unit and augmented his point through examples from the past. According to Rashid Lateef, the ICC’s ACSU has failed to unveil any fraud or corrupt practices in the cricket sport. Hence, the reliability factor associated with the unit is very low.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rashid-c84058 urged ICC to institutionalize the unit and provide appropriate authority to unit in order to perform the main tasks efficiently. According to Rashid Lateef, the ACSU lacks the requisite authority to conduct raids or arrest suspicious people. The ACSU has assumed an advisory role, Rashid said. The ACSU has limited its role to advisory services by refraining players to avoid interaction with suspicious players.
Rashid opined that only advice may not be enough to counter the ever-rising network of gamblers. The illegal bookmakers have modified their ways and means to trap players through attractive offers. With such evolving progress towards the criminal side, ACSU and ICC must not close their eyes from developing new strategies.
ICC introduced the anti corruption unit in 2000 after the match-fixing admission by former South African captain Hansie Cronje. The scandal ultimately led to the termination of his cricketing career but caused shock waves across the cricket fraternity in the world. The main role and task of the unit at the time of formation was to avoid recurrence of such malpractices in the future. However with the ever-rising trend of match-fixing scams, it appears that unit has failed to achieve its main objective. Never has it happened that the ACSU has been able to foil any alleged scam well before time. Similarly the investigation skills of ACSU have also raised doubts with their inability to drill inside the ways of professional bookmakers.
Rashid attributed the failure of ACSU with lack of professionalism in the unit. According to Rashid, a normal policeman retired from the service lacks the capacity to investigate complex mechanism of corruption used in the cricket field. Rashid urged upon the ICC to employ cricketers in the unit so that they can smell any illegal activity at the onset.
ICC must involve some former veterans in the ACSU to facilitate sports investigation. Sports investigation in general and cricket in particular requires different parameters for criminal investigation.
Tags: