The London newspaper, in a front-page article titled “English cricket in bung scandal”, said it had evidence that tens of thousands of pounds were on offer to players to throw part or all of international matches, including last year’s World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan.
It cited one Delhi bookmaker boasting that English county cricket was also a “good new market”, as it involved “low-profile matches with scant monitoring. That’s why good money can be made there without any hassle.”
According to the statistics revealed by the report, batsmen can earn up to £44,000 for slow scoring and bowlers can earn £50,000 for conceding runs in set patterns, with another £750,000 on the table for a player or official who can guarantee the outcome of a match.
The paper’s undercover reporters cite fixers as saying they had recruited players from countries including England with the help of a Bollywood actress in a ‘honey-trap.’
“So rife is match-fixing in parts of India that cricket may be in danger of losing its reputation as a civilised sport played by gentlemanly rules,” the report warned.
An ICC spokesman said “We are grateful for the information you (the newspaper) have provided and will launch an inquiry into these serious allegations,” he told The Sunday Times.
“Betting on cricket in the legal and illegal markets continues to grow rapidly and, with many, many millions of dollars being bet on every match, the threat of corrupters seeking to influence the game has not gone away,” he pointed out.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2012.
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Match/Spot fixing is done at a large scale in India and Australia. And of course the ICC knows about it, but they choose to ignore it bcoz of the "big fish" involved. They don't want to mess with the heavy weights and get themselves in financial/political trouble. They only take action against those who they know wont do anything in return.
The headquarters of bookies is in India!! It's about action is taken against these corrupt people
Pakistani players wouldnt be involved in match fixing if it wasn't such a huge business in India. Agreed that they are at fault majorly. To nip it in the bud, India needs to be in the focus as thats where the dirty money generates from in the billions. And as an outsider lets say Pakistani cricketers are corrupt should one turn a blind eye towards the rampant corruption and betting going on in your country. Come on ;)
@Travian: "The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said that it will investigate claims that Indian bookmakers are fixing the results of English county games and international fixtures"
The country from where the fixing is starting should be banned until all the bookies and thier circles have been closed down....
@Shariq Najeeb:
. But one thing i dont understand how can you fix for winning. india won right?. You fix only too loose !. pakistan lost right?
@Shariq Najeeb: The only team in the world that is a disgrace to cricket is Pakistan. Whosoever plays with Pakistan gets a bad name.
First, the pakistanis indulged in match fixing and the british had to suffer from disrepute. Now, once again the pakistanis indulge in match fixing and the Indians have to suffer a bad name.
ICC should ban Pakistan from playing any cricket at all. The world has had enough of these match fixers. There is ample proof that by keeping these match fixers out of the IPL, the tournament keeps growing in a free and fair manner. Wherever you find a pakistani there has to be corruption and match fixing. Shame Shame.
@Shariq Najeeb: You know who dropped catches, who got out..... Why will someone take money to win.... you only can take money to loose. I don't its difficult to guess.
The only solution left is to ban any form of cricket in India. This is not a new problem - it has been going on since the days of Azharuddin.