The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday it would hold an emergency meeting at Lord’s on May 2-3 to discuss the match-fixing crisis.
In a statement ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya said the ICC was ``extremely concerned at the damage to the image of the game.‘’
South Africa captain Hansie Cronje and team mates Herschelle Gibbs, Pieter Strydom and Nicky Boje have been charged by Indian police with match-fixing during a one-day series between India and South Africa in March. They have denied the accusations.
Cronje was subsequently sacked as South Africa captain after admitting to taking money from a bookmaker for information and forecasting during a triangular one-day series against Zimbabwe and England in South Africa last January.
``ICC directors around the world are extremely concerned at the damage to the image of the game by the flow of allegations about players being involved in receiving payments from bookmakers,‘’ Dalmiya said.
``A summit meeting must be held to consider what further steps are needed to rid our sport of this major problem.‘’
Dalmiya said he would meet Indian officials in Calcutta on Tuesday to discuss matter relating to betting and match-fixing.
The statement also said the name of the judge to head the ICC inquiry in South Africa would be known by the middle of the week.
Let’s hope they will take some concrete steps to rid the game of this menace.