Match-fixing still in currency

LONDON, APRIL 28. The scourge of match-fixing is still widespread in international cricket and some of the recent one-day series matches between Pakistan and New Zealand may have been affected, according to a report to be submitted to the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the next couple of days.

The report by Lord Paul Condon, head of ICC's anti- corruption unit, ``draws a deeply pessimistic picture of match- fixing in international cricket and suggests that, despite the extraordinary spotlight on match-fixing last year following the unmasking of Hansie Cronje and other cricketers, the scourge has not been eliminated.

``A couple of matches in many of the recent series could have been tainted,'' the Daily Telegraph said on Saturday, quoting the report.

The confidential report is being sent to Lord Griffiths, head of ICC's code of conduct committee. The anti- corruption unit has a remit until 2003 and the tone of the report suggests it may take that long to deal with the match-fixing problem.

While the report does not name anybody for fear of libel, it is believed to have expressed particular concern about two matches in last month's one-day series between Pakistan and New Zealand. Pakistan won the first easily but the bookmakers' plan was allegedly for Pakistan to lose the second, in order to improve the odds and then go on to win the series. However, the alleged plan failed and, despite leading 2-1, Pakistan lost the series 3- 2.

According to the report in the daily, Condon's investigators discussed the allegations with New Zealand players during a visit to Sharjah earlier this month when New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka played a one-day triangular series there. The New Zealand players were not implicated in any alleged fixing.

Though no specific allegations have been made against any Pakistani players, Javed Mianded who was coaching the team in New Zealand, was reported to have told journalists in Pakistan that the matches were fixed and that he wanted an inquiry.

Though he later denied having made the comments, the Pakistan board has now appointed its own inquiry, headed by a former inspector-general of police, Dilawar Hussain.

The Pakistan-New Zealand series is not the only one of concern. Sharjah cricket authorities, upset by the general air of suspicion about their tournaments and the comments by ICC president Malcolm Gray that he had ``grave apprehensions'' about Sharjah, are now considering a 58-page interim report submitted by their own three-man inquiry, the report said.

This team of Clive Lloyd, George Staple, the former director of the serious fraud office and now a senior partner

in a city law firm and Brig. Al Maul, former chief of the Sharjah police and now director-general of criminal security in the United Arab Emirates, conducted some investigations during the recent Sharjah tournament.

In the course of the inquiry, they met certain Pakistan players, including Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi-against whom no allegations have been made-to discuss previous matches in Sharjah. Condon's investigators, who made two visits to Sharjah in recent weeks, sat in for this interview, the report said.

ICC's three-member anti-corruption team will interview Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya in Sri Lanka in the next three days regarding allegations of match- fixing made to the Indian CBI by Mukesh Gupta, the Indian bookmaker. All three cricketers deny the allegations.

Meanwhile, the crown prosecution service has been considering a report submitted by the metropolitan police for three months. It had conducted investigations into claims of alleged match-fixing in England made by Chris Lewis in relation to the New Zealand- England series of 1999. This has resulted in three men being on police bail. The police want to extradite certain individuals from India to further their inquiry, the report said.

- PTI

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