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Blame it on the ICC, says South African journalist

Onkar Singh

The International Cricket Council is to be blamed for failing to curb the tendency amongst cricketers to fall prey to the temptation of making quick bucks at the cost of cricket lovers, says Iqbal Khan, sports editor of The Mercury and Business Report, a South African newspaper.

Khan is currently in India to investigate the match-fixing allegations that cost Hansie Cronje the captaincy of the South African cricket team.

"If the ICC had taken severe action against Dennis Lillee and Rodney Marsh when they indulged in betting, things would not have come to such a pass. In last three years of his presidentship Jagmohan Dalimya has done precious little to curb match-fixing by bookies in international cricket, particular in one-day matches. Look at the amount of one-day cricket that is being played all around the world. Who is getting the benefit of this? Obviously the ICC," he said.

Khan met joint commissioner of police (crime branch) Dr K K Paul and talked to him about the ongoing investigations by the Delhi police.

"Paul told me that they have enough juicy evidence to fix Hansie Cronje and others in the case. I am inclined to believe him now after Hansie admitted that he took 8,200 dollars from Indian bookie Sanjeev Chawla for telling him about weather conditions etc," he said.

Asked what forced Hansie to take a U-turn and admit his guilt within 24 hours after having denied that he had nothing to do with match-fixing, Khan said it is possible that Hansie got to know things were not that easy.

"Maybe his conscience did not allow him. Hence he admitted his sin. Maybe, he was a new player and not hardened enough like many other international players whose names have been figuring time and again in match-fixing.

"Mark Waugh and Shane Warne got away with admission that they had received money from bookies for telling weather reports. Charges against Salim Malik were far more serious. Even he got away with it. Hansie got trapped," he quipped.

Khan felt that the earphone incident during the a World Cup match in England, when Hansie took the field wearing earphones, should not be linked to the match-fixing episode.

"The earplug was a sort of innovation that had been contrived by the then South African cricket coach Bob Woolmer. In football matches coaches sit outside the playing field and shout instructions to their team players. In cricket this cannot happen because the coach sits too far away from the field. But I am convinced that Hansie had no tendency to cheat then. A day will come when this innovation would also be allowed. Look at the innovations introduced by television coverage of the matches. Replays used by the umpires help them in giving correct decisions," he argued.

He revealed that Dr Ali Bacher, president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, and the entire South African public were shattered when they came to know that their captain was involved in match-fixing.

"Initially nobody would believe the story given out by the Delhi police. But after his admission things changed. We were all shattered. The young kids who literally worshipped Hansie as a role model were also heart-broken. This is the first time a South African has been accused of his involvement in match-fixing. I have been covering sports for 25 years and seen Hansie grow as a player from his school days to graduate to national level captain. I never thought that he would do a thing like this," Khan said.

He was, however, all praise for the way the United Cricket Board of South Africa is handling the entire episode. "I know that our government will not drag its feet on this issue. The whole thing will be over by the end of May and the truth will be out before the world," he claimed.

Would the names of some of Indian players come out during the probe?

"You never know what is going to come out once the probe starts," he says. "I am going to Mumbai to find out what evidence the Mumbai police has against the Indian players. It will be interesting to find out," he said.