Spot-fixing: The clean-up starts here. Or does it?

In April of 2000, the New Delhi police got hold of recordings of South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje negotiating with a bookie to fix a match. Cronje was banned from the game of cricket for life. Mohammad Azharuddin, Salim Malik, a few Aussies and a whole lot of other players were involved as well. They too, received bans. Some were lengthy, like the life bans on Azhar and Malik, others not so much. Ajay Jadeja even came back to play Ranji Trophy. Despite all the investigations carried out, there was a major problem: the evidence accumulated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India was not admissible in a court of law. It was paltry, inadequate and almost entirely circumstantial. The evidence was far from clinching. The result: even though everyone knew that the players were guilty, the most that could be done was ban them from the sport. It was a heavy punishment. But was it severe enough? Many years after the match-fixing scandal rocked the world of cricket, the issue still haunts us. [caption id=“attachment_120983” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Mohammed Asif at the trial. PTI/AP”] [/caption] Now, perhaps it won’t. A jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court found Salman Butt guilty on both counts of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments. Asif, too, was found guilty on both counts. The newspapers will all talk about how this is momentous — not merely for cricket, but for all sport. Corruption is the greatest threat to the integrity of sport. The word ‘guilty,’ they’ll tell you, was never more deserving. But will this really be a momentous day for rooting out corruption in the game, or is it merely a blip in the larger picture? For a few days, we’ll pat ourselves on the back and say that all is well. The evil of match-fixing, spot-fixing or whatever other name you call it by, has been uprooted and thrown away. And now, with the threat of a jail term hanging over their heads, players will never even think of getting involved again. But who are we kidding? Only the modus operandi will change. They’ll lie low for a while and then get busy again. The International Cricket Council’s Anti Corruption and Security Unit will once again be caught napping. And once again we will all be shocked — or at least pretend to be. So, the question obviously is: is match-fixing a major part of the cricket scene today? Does anyone know? Can anyone truly claim to know the answer to that? When the Delhi police got hold of the Cronje telephone conversation by accident for they were actually investigating a south Delhi businessman’s complaints about threatening phone calls. The Delhi Police monitored his phone and traced the calls to Sanjeev Chawla, a London-based entrepreneur. Monitoring Chawla’s phone led the police to Delhi bookie Rajesh Kalra and Hansie Cronje. Realising they’re on to something bigger, the Crime Branch is roped in. One thing led to another and that’s how the whole betting syndicate was uncovered — by accident. The ICC knew nothing. The BCCI knew nothing. And the players revealed nothing. This time round — the same circle was repeated. The ICC knew nothing. The PCB knew nothing. And the players revealed nothing. The News of the World launched a sting operation, gathered evidence, broke the story, and suddenly the scourge of fixing had returned to haunt the sport. The question we need to ask is that if NOTW hadn’t actually worked on this story, would we have even been debating this issue again. Click on our slideshow [fpgallery id=298] We would have believed that all is well and got on with our lives. But now once again, every time we see a batsman throw his wicket away or bowl a no-ball or a wide, we will wonder whether he is doing it for the moment. Once again, we’ll question everything. Once again, the authenticity of sport is at stake. We’d like to believe that this is a phenomenon that is restricted only to the Pakistan team. But will we ever be sure? How can we ever know for certain? There is more than enough betting that happens in India, too. Will the ICC and individual organisations get their act together or will it take another ‘accident’ to show that there’s no escaping this fix? Till then, we will wait and wonder about the reality being painted in front of us and hope that it isn’t just a mirage.

Spot-fixing: The clean-up starts here. Or does it?

The conviction of Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif on charges of spot-fixing is more due to fortuitous circumstance than any real effective policing.

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