Ponting calls for swift action on corruption

Former Australian captain wants improvement in ‘integrity of cricket’.

SYDNEY: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has called for swift action on cricket’s corruption crisis, saying there is nothing worse for the game than the shadow hanging over it.

Ponting said match-fixing and other rumours had circulated for years, and he pleaded with the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption watchdog and individual boards to act quickly so players and fans could have full faith that what happens on the field was legitimate.

“We’ve all been aware of a certain amount of corruption in the game for a long time now and there’s always just been a bit of smoke, there hasn’t been much fire around it,” he said.

“There is nothing worse than having that [corruption] tag around, the worry about the integrity of cricket and that is what every governing body would be fearing and a lot of the players. It takes away a bit from the game they love.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2014.

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