New charges: ICC to probe Pak-India World Cup semi-final
Indian bookmakers fixing UK county games as well: Report.
LONDON:
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, after a report by Britain’s Sunday Times surfaced detailing fresh cases of match fixing.
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.
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, after a report by Britain’s Sunday Times surfaced detailing fresh cases of match fixing.
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.