Restore cricket's credibility

GIVEN ITS LIMITATIONS, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has tried to make the best out of a bad situation. Fortunately, it jettisoned the amnesty scheme to encourage cricketers and the game's administrators to come out with the whole truth on the alleged match-fixing and betting scams that have rocked the `Queen of Sports'. The ICC took a marathon two-day meeting to come up with the decision on imposing a life ban on those found guilty and to set up a sort of inquisitor-general to look into allegations of match-fixing in the past. But the best thing that the ICC has done is to fix the responsibility on the national cricket boards, which are affiliated to the international body. So, it is now up to the boards in the nine major ICC member- states to come clean on the state of match-fixing in their countries. The problem is there is so much of politics in these cash-rich boards. The ICC was clearly cornered - damned if it did not do enough and damned still if it failed to come up with a convincing plan to unearth the skeletons in the cupboard. The proposed ombudsman or anti-corruption investigator will be named in a couple of months and will report to the ICC's Code of Conduct Committee headed by Lord Griffiths.

Except brandishing the stick, there was very little the ICC could do. The ball is now clearly in the court of the national boards. If they want to establish beyond reasonable doubt that their players, coaches and administrators are above board, they must get to the bottom of the scam. India and South Africa have already launched the exercise. The Indian Government has ordered a full-fledged inquiry by the CBI, while South Africa has named a judge to head the inquiry into `Hansiegate'. England has asked the Scotland Yard to investigate charges against three unnamed cricketers. It is now up to Australia and Pakistan to act and meet the international requirements. It cannot be forgotten that Australia took the charges against two of its players - Sharne Warne and Mark Waugh - who admitted to taking money for passing on information to bookies very lightly. And now, Pakistan faces the prospect of isolation if it fails to release the Justice Qayyum report in full. It is for the military regime and the Pakistan Cricket Board to decide the future course of action.

One thing is very clear. The popular sport has lost its entire credibility. No cricket lover or fan of an icon will be willing to believe that his or her hero really made a century, took five wickets or threw away his wicket cheaply, except through some `fixing'. So it is in the interests of the players, the boards and the game that the entire cricketing fraternity uses this opportunity to cleanse the arena before proceeding with more games. It is imperative for all ICC affiliates to set up an independent investigating agency to look into all complaints that come in. In the Indian scenario, Mr. I. S. Bindra and Manoj Prabhakar have named individuals and made some specific allegations. Now that the CBI has taken charge, they have the opportunity to reveal all they know so that there can be a thorough probe. Since the image of cricket, worldwide, has reached the abyss already, it is time to start from scratch and rebuild the game, its credibility and popularity. Otherwise, only bookies and corrupt players will follow the game. The spectators and fans will vanish. The ICC and the national boards must realise this and act swiftly to save the game.

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Section  : Opinion
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