The game of cricket faces its gravest crisis in terms of its credibility. The latest allegations of match-fixing and “spot” fixing are so believable on the strength of circumstantial evidence that the integrity of the sport has been eroded like never before and the game is at serious risk of alienating fans and sponsors alike. The smug assumption that match-fixing had been eradicated after the pre-2000 episodes and the consequent tightening of the inner ring around players and teams at the venues and in hotels has been blown to bits.
As modern cricket history suggests, the Pakistanis appear to be past masters at the art of fixing events. In the 16 years since the first match-fixing allegations emerged, not much seems to have changed except that an anti-corruption and security unit of the International Cricket Council is in place and is supposed to have guaranteed that players are isolated from the insidious influences of the world of gambling filled with high rollers and bookmakers of the legal and illegal variety.
Professional sport has been grappling for long with the spectre of gambling-induced corruption. Not cricket alone, but also tennis, baseball and horse racing have been trying to close the door on gamblers attempting to use inside information to their benefit or to fix games outright. What cricket has been unable to do despite all the warning signs is to secure its players from the avarice of people like Mazhar Majeed who prey on the susceptibilities of young players and corrupt them so much that they stay hooked to this for life.
Ironically, the latest episode generated by a tabloid sting operation might act as a trigger for more stringent action because it took place in England, whose investigative agencies, including the Metropolitan Police and specialist units on economic crimes, can be expected to conduct a thorough, non-partisan investigation and nail those who have been playing games with the fair name of cricket. The laws in the UK were changed five years ago when Section 42 of the Gaming Act got teeth to address the problem of cheating in sport for gaming purposes. But the nexus between sportsmen and organised crime associated with illegal gambling has never been fully broken, as the latest incidents clearly bear out. Unfortunately, cricket continues to believe that the problem lies outside in the form of those who conspire to defraud bookmakers and that its players are pristine.
It stands to reason that any act against the principles of fair sport, whether it be a team game or that of individuals, should be penalised in order to ensure that the rogue elements are isolated. But again, the enforcing authorities have never attempted to have players jailed for their part in crimes that are proved. It is clear that even life bans such as the ones imposed on Salim Malik, Hansie Cronje and Mohammed Azharuddin meant very little because the players are still prepared to risk everything in order to earn all that they can in their short careers.
The monitoring of the Pakistan cricket team has been shoddy, to say the least, as the connection between a large section of the entire national team and a gambler or bookmaker or players’ agent has been exposed in the Mazhar Majeed case. Unless the players are actually given jail sentences if collusion is established, it is futile to expect that things are going to change. Exemplary cleansing action at this point alone can save the game from what could well be its worst nightmare — of proven match-fixing and “spot” fixing. Will cricket have the courage to act at least now to clean the Augean stables?