Azhar, Cronje, Malik records might be scrapped
LONDON: Cricket records of former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, disgraced South African skipper Hansie Cronje and former Pakistan captain Salim Malik, may be obliterated from the Wisden , the cricket lovers’ bible, if the recommendation of Sir Paul Condon is accepted.
This is one of the 20 new rules for cricketers proposed by Sir Paul, currently heading the anti-corruption unit of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to help break the sport’s links with match-fixing.
The former head of Scotland Yard, according to a report in The Sunday Times, believes this ultimate sanction will help clean up the game. He submitted his preliminary report on match-fixing and betting to Lord Griffith, chairman of the code of conduct committee recently.
Other recommendations made in the report include making players sign forms agreeing that they will face prosecution if found involved in match-fixing, outlawing mobile phones from dressing-rooms, anti-corruption training for young cricketers, higher pay and bigger prize money for players to remove the temptation of taking bribes.
“My ambition is to make it so tough for the few bad guys still left that the risks are not worth it,” Condon said.
Sir Paul has collected evidence on up to 20 cricketers, umpires and administrators who are believed to be involved in match-fixing. However, because of legal restraints they are unlikely to be named in the interim report, the daily said.
The extent of the match-fixing scandal was uncovered last year when Delhi Police tapped telephone conversations between the then South African captain Cronje and a bookmaker.
Cronje later admitted that he received 6,000 pounds from an Indian bookmaker in exchange of information about pitch conditions and team composition.
Condon will investigate calls to Australian players in their hotel rooms seeking information before the Chennai Test on their recent away tour to India, examine whether a tournament between India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka was fixed and look into allegations that some Pakistan players may have thrown matches on the recent tour to New Zealand.
Condon’s team is also likely to interview Alec Stewart, former England captain, for a second time. Stewart has denied allegations that he received 5,000 pounds for passing information to an Indian bookmaker.
Scotland Yard’s Serious Crime Squad is investigating separate claims by Chris Lewis, former England all-rounder, that he was approached by an Indian sports promoter to persuade two England colleagues to throw a Test at Old Trafford in 1999.
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I personally feel that their records should NOT be scrapped.As “match-fixing” is not a performance enhancing steroid .If anything, players only damaged their batting/bowling records by letting themselves be used by match-fixers.**
[This message has been edited by chilli (edited May 14, 2001).]