Rinse Cricket's Linen Right Now!

Match-fixing has been cricket’s biggest downer over the last decade or so, and recent revelations and consequent punishments suggest that the saga hasn’t ceased. Committing mistakes is not the only problem, but not attempting to rectify them is a bigger problem. When the corruption charges were proved first about a decade ago, the cricketing community was shocked and the game’s repute was at stake. Names with impeccable integrity and transparency sailed cricket through that tough weather.

Times have changed: match-fixing allegations don’t raise your eyebrows instantaneously anymore, instead of complete matches, manipulation of a few moments have come to the fore, cricket players have been jailed for proven corruption charges yet you get a sense that not enough efforts are going in to make the game transparent.

The ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) has been bestowed upon the duty of keeping a vigil on any possible malpractices since its origin in 2000. Either the ACSU officials are under-empowered or ill equipped to monitor and access malpractices in the game. Whenever a terror attack is executed, we shouldn’t forget that the security forces bust 9 out of the 10 such attempts; likewise the ACSU shouldn’t be looked upon as a weak cop but a body that is going about its business in a quiet manner. We live in a result-oriented age, and hence everybody is expected to deliver 100% and nothing less than that; the number of sting-operation led busts of fixing charges raise questions about ACSU’s role.

ICC with its limited reach is trying to exploit as much as it can via ACSU, but the national boards need to step up as well. Players have been caught indulging in corruption at the domestic level in England and India. Punishments have been imposed, popular statements aka ‘we won’t tolerate…’ etc. have been rolled out and there is that full-stop. There is a lot to be done but national boards appear to have a stance of non-action until it reaches a point of compulsive action.

When we are looking upon this subject, we need to classify players into different categories – established international players, fringe international players, seasoned domestic players, fringe domestic players, T20 league players. Let us try and delineate this topic briefly. Established international players today are associated with some sports management company or the other (a fine piece on that subject). Though this can be streamlined in a much better way globally, like Australia and England are doing, it is a positive start nonetheless. Fringe domestic players would comprise of those who have just graduated out of club or sub-domestic cricket; players who don’t have big shot sponsors or less vulnerable to getting influenced. Players falling into these two categories should be expected to be least involved with corruption acts. The other three categories can easily be qualified as those falling into the vulnerable category. So what could be done?

Once a player starts playing domestic cricket, his off-field activity (with respect to cricket) should be monitored by the national board via some mechanism (maybe by monitoring his balance sheets) from that very moment; for example his dealings with his sponsors’, his meetings with people during matches. T20 leagues are possibly the future of cricket but they are too inclusive (in terms of activity) to be kept a tab on. If the game has to survive with minimal corruption, keeping a tight leash on monetary activity on T20 leagues should be executed with priority. When a child is punished for a wrongdoing during his early age, he tends to avoid repeating that act. Likewise, if a player’s activity is strictly monitored during his domestic career, chances are less that he would commit a corrupt act whenever he goes through a period of instant fame and money or short-lived fame and money. Cricket is described as a gentlemen’s game but (sadly) today, the time has come that it is the prerogative of anti-corruption bodies to ensure that only gentlemen take the cricket field!