ICC – spot-fixing crisis ‘as big as Cronje’

The head of the International Cricket Council said today that this week’s allegations of ‘spot-fixing’ in matches could be the most serious crisis to hit the sport for a decade.

The cricket world has been thrown into turmoil following last Sunday’s allegations in the News of the World that two Pakistan players bowled deliberate no-balls as part of a betting scam in the fourth Test against England. The players, and their captain, were provisionally suspended last night by the ICC.

Speaking at a Lord’s press conference, Haroon Lorgat said: ‘I would think that in terms of corruption within the sport, this is the next worse or as big as Hansie Cronje.’ Cronje (below) was the former South African captain who admitted accepting bribes to fix matches and provide information to bookmakers in 2000.

Although unable to put forward specific details of the charges against the three suspended Pakistani players, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, head of the governing body’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, did confirm that the charges all relate to the recent Lord’s Test.

There have also been murmurings of suspicion regarding the second Test of Pakistan’s disastrous tour to Australia earlier this year, but Sir Ronnie said that ‘although there were things that went on [in that match] that were not in the spirit of the game, we have no evidence those things were in any way for financial gain.’

Outlandish claims that the players’ suspensions were part of a wider conspiracy against Pakistan were refuted. “We have been working very closely, but in parallel, with the Metropolitan Police,’ said Sir Ronnie. ‘The culmination was last night when we brought disciplinary action against three players, and provisionally suspended them. We have arrived at a position where players have a case to answer - it doesn’t mean we’ve arrived at a finding of guilt.’

There was constant emphasis of the ICC’s tough stance against improbity. ‘We will not tolerate any sort of corruption within the sport,’ said Lorgat. ‘Upholding the integrity of cricket is paramount, and we will do whatever is necessary to ensure that we maintain integrity in the sport.’

Sir Ronnie also confirmed that the ICC’s 24-hour corruption ‘hotline’ receives hundreds of calls each year. ‘We maintain intelligence that we get from the public and players,’ he said. ‘We will go where the evidence takes us.’

However, there was no confirmation of when the ICC themselves would be interviewing the three suspended players, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt. ‘That depends on the police,’ said Sir Ronnie. ‘They are conducting a criminal investigation, we are conducting a separate disciplinary investigation.’