ICC’s anti-corruption unit fails to stop match-fixing
The International Cricket Council (ICC) formed an Anti-corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) in 2000 under former Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Lord Condon. Sadly, ACSU has been ineffective and inefficient in serving its sole purpose. ACSU was formed to look out for bribery scandals and legal and illegal bookmaking markets. The recent Pakistani cricket team’s mess regarding match-fixing shows how the ACSU has failed to perform its duties.
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has also questioned ICC’s commitment to eradicating match-fixing and spot-fixing from the international cricketing arena. The council may be afraid that the problem might run too deep. The Aussie all-rounder claims two approaches from bookmakers during last year’s tour to England, and blames ICC for allowing the issue to re-emerge.
The 29-year old Aussie is a World-class all-rounder. In his infant career in Test cricket with only 17 matches to his name, Watson has scored over 1,000 runs at an average of almost 40. He has also played 96 One Day Internationals (ODI)’s scoring 2,276 runs at an average of 40.64, not to forget his 99 ODI wickets at an average of 28.96.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 believes, “The ICC anti-corruption unit is not really working”, also adding, “that’s totally to do with the ICC, so they really need to step in and really get to the bottom of it. Maybe they don’t want to get to the bottom of it because it might run too deep”.
The young all-rounder feels the need for this scandal to be sorted out as quickly as possible. As the general public would lose interest and faith in the game since they might question what they see is true or false.
On the other hand, former Australian Captain, Mark Taylor, believes banning Pakistan’s cricket team from the international arena would be a very harsh penalty for the entire nation to pay. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 says, “If they have one person, two people, and three people involved in match-fixing or fixing certain deliveries ... to throw the whole nation? No, I'm not for that. I think it would not be a good thing for World cricket to have Pakistan not involved”.
The United Kingdom’s Upper House also passed a bill under the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005, which makes cheating for financial gains a criminal act in UK itself. It was initially expected that these allegations which have taken place in the country would help the authorities to take them to court. A high-profile case could act as a deterrent to those who might get tempted with such opportunities.
Keeping cases including veteran players such as former South African skipper, Hansie Cronje’s, scandal in mind, one cannot say that ICC has not done anything at all to look out for such matters. But in terms of educating other players regarding book-keepers and all, the council could have done a bit more.
The chairperson of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128, says the convicted players will not be suspended until some solid evidence comes to light. The three alleged players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir are currently with the rest of the touring Pakistani cricket team, preparing for the limited-over series ahead. One can only hope that the bigger picture is drawn by the PCB, ICC (ACSU) and England and Wales (ECB) boards, since the current scandal at hand can ruin the nature, interest and credentials of the game itself.
However, the ultimate decision lies with the PCB. They clearly are going to have to come to some sort of solid and strong reasons for the series to go ahead. But they will have to sit down and think about the right course of action which needs to be taken. Watson and Taylor have made some strong arguments regarding the way ICC has dealt with match-fixing and other scandals, and are hoping for justified action to take place. One can only hope for the saviour of Pakistani cricket and integrity of the supreme body of ICC.
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