31 Aug 2010

Cricket bet scam: players could be victims too

Chief Correspondent

As the controversy continues over Pakistan’s cricket team’s alleged betting scam, Alex Thomson asks if the young, inexperienced players could be victims of the corruption themselves.

Pakistan cricket

After the sting – cometh the probe. And Pakistan’s elite face probing from every conceivable angle this morning.
The Yard already have the gentleman on the News of the World video enjoying their hospitality and he may not be the last.

Along with the Met, Pakistan has sent in a team form their Federal Investigation Agency. Unlike the Met, these guys are under direct political pressure from the top of government in Islamabad, to get results – and fast.

Unable to play Test Cricket at home because of the real threat of political violence – the nation stares in the face the prospect of not playing it at all.This is unthinkable in Pakistan.
Then there is the ICC, cricket’s anti-corruption body who, it emerges this morning, have also had the squad under surveillance for some time.All of which points to a dodgy bunch of players up to no good. If only the nasty world of spot betting were that simple.Sadly the players – young, inexperienced and by common consent even worse than the historically poor 1962 tourists – could be victims themselves.

Sri Lankan players have talked of getting phone calls when they are away in team hotels, from hard men actually sitting in their homes with their families, issuing casual threats if said players do not produce the require spot bet incident at the required time in the coming match.What would you do, aged 18, the other side of the world, facing this kind of pressure alongside all the other stress of top-flight sport.This is what we are really dealing with so the question must be: how can respective national authorities protect vulnerable squads? That’s where the solution lies.Frankly, taking their mobiles away when they’re in the dressing room but leaving them to themselves back at the hotel is not going to cut it.As for the named players? Well, excuses will likely be found for them not taking part in the coming 20-20s. This will be easier and more expedient than dropping men who are innocent until proven otherwise.They will need time to prepare their defences etcetera. Adequate preparation will not mean a full house at Sofia Gardens in Cardiff of 14,000
That’s a long way in every sense from genteel old Lords and the egg and bacon tie brigade, notwithstanding the odd recent boos from the Tavern End.