How the match-fixing drama unfolded - Part 2

Ali Bacher says the report of the South African judicial commission into the match fixing charges against Hansie Cronje and others will have to be submitted by the end of May. In a magazine interview, he says ``we want it to be done quickly. We have to move fast. This thing must not linger on. There must be a finality to it.''

Reports from Pakistan indicate that President Rafiq Tarar halted a probe into Pakistan's World Cup defeats by Bangladesh last year. Justice Malik Qayyum, a Lahore judge, was asked to investigate. But according to Qayyum ``after three days I was told not to investigate any World Cup match. The President issued the order in writing and and it came from the Ministry of Sport. The president of Pakistan is also the patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Initially I was told I should look at the match fixing without restrictions. So I was going to look at the World Cup final and the game against Bangladesh. Then I was asked to withdraw. This was very unusual and I was surprised. Anyone would be surprised if you are asked to do something and then told not to three days later.'' Qayyum however followed the instructions and went on to complete his report in October without any reference to the World Cup. However despite his recommendations that life bans should be handed out to some players, no action has been taken by the PCB.

Justice Qayyum says that match fixing is a worldwide problem. ``It therefore has to be tackled at that level. The ICC should play its role and the ICC countries should join together to investigate.''

Pakistan cricket officials are asked to submit the much delayed Justice Qayyum report on match fixing to the special meeting of the ICC to be held at Lord's on May 2 and 3. ``The instructions have come directly from ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya,'' the Dawn newspaper reports. The report, which examined the question of corruption in the game in Pakistan, was submitted to the government last October. Its contents have not been made public nor has it been acted upon by either the government or the PCB.

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan names an Indian as the man who knew too much regarding fixing of the matches way back in 1977. In an interview to a cricket website, Imran identifies the person as Raj Bagri, a Garware Club member in Mumbai who told him a few names of Indian players and also of other countries involved in fixing of matches. Imran says he believes the malady is very much in India too because Bagri divulged a big name in Indian cricket of the 70s. Imran however does not reval any names. Imran says he also noticed something shady in Sharjah in 1989 during the Australasia Cup. ``I was the captain and next day I immediately confronted my players and warned them that if anyone did not play up to his ability, he will never again play for Pakistan and he will also be jailed.'' Imran terms Ali Bacher's allegation that the sub continent is the hub of match rigging as pure rubbish and says Bacher's is a typical argument that will again absolve players. He feels that pure greed is the reason for players falling for such temptations despite being rich and adds that he is sorry for cricket. ``If I am confused what about the public,'' he asks. He says he experienced the public resentment in Pakistan where 90 percent of fans believed that Pakistan threw the World Cup match against Bangladesh though to him it was not true. He also fears that many Test matches are fixed.

The person to head the South African judicial probe into the match fixing scandal involving Hansie Cronje will be appointed by this weekend. The judge has not been appointed so far because the Justice Minister Penuell Maduna has been abroad and the Easter weekend had interfered with normal work, Justice Ministry spokesman Graham Abrahams says in Johannesburg.

Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary JY Lele, in a letter to the Indian Sports Minister SS Dhindsa dated April 21, states that since there is a public perception that the Chandrachud inquiry did not have much investigative powers, the BCCI is now willing to assist any other inquiry into the allegations of match fixing. ``Our board will welcome an investigation by the police or any appropriate investigating agency which is seized of the matter. We are also requesting all our present and former office bearers, players, officials, coaches and managers to subject themselves to an inquiry by the Delhi police and place any related material in their possession without fear or favour.'' Lele says that the government was being requested to provide proper security to all those who wished to disclose any information to the investigating agencies.

The Pakistan Cricket Board expresses its readiness to table the Qayyum enquiry committee report on match fixing at the special meeting of the ICC in Lodnon on May 2 and 3. Yawar Saeed, director (cricket operations) of the PCB tells a Gulf newspaper from Lahore ``we are very keen to clear our cricketers from the match fixing scandal. We are willing to co-operate to end the menace of match fixing once and for all.''

Yawar Saeed also says that Ali Bacher has violated the rules of the code of conduct followed by memebrs of the ICC while making the charge that the Pakistan-Bangladesh match in the World Cup last year was fixed. ``I have already rejected his allegations. His charges should have been backed with evidence. We have found that his statement is full of contradictions and lacks credibility. If he knew that this particular match was fixed, why has he remained silent for so long? It is unfortunate that he decided to go public about it instead of informing the PCB first.

Australian Cricket Board chairman Dennis Rogers calls for players found guilty of match fixing to be banned for life. Rogers, who will attend the ICC meeting at Lord's on May 2 and 3, says ``my own view, and it's a personal view I will take to London with me, is that if match fixing has been proven and if a player is proven beyond doubt to be guilty of match fixing, then it's only sensible that the cricket public and the administrators should respond and say you don't play again for life. There is no second chances on this. Rogers, an ICC executive board member, says it is is unrealistic to expect a cure for match fixing to emerge after just two days. ``I am not sure we can get to the bottom of it. What we can do is put a process in place that tries to bring that about as a matter of urgency.'' According to him, reducing the number of one day internationals would have no effect in stamping out match fixing.

The Indian government decides to institute an inquiry into allegations of betting and match fixing in Indian cricket. Sports Minister SS Dhindsa makes the announcement at a press conference in New Delhi after a meeting with cricket officials and former and present players to discuss the raging controversy.

ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya says he backs any form of inquiry the government might launch into the match fixing allegations in Indian cricket but calls for a specific time frame to address the controversy. He also urges that any inquiry should bring players, administrators, managers and coaches into its ambit and adds that more stringest punishment should be handed down to administrators than players if found guilty.

Three England cricketers are cleared of allegations of match fixing by an England and Wales Cricket Board inquiry. This follows a newspaper article by former England all rounder Chris Lewis making public allegations by an Indian businessman that three England players had received money for fixing the outcome of matches.

Ali Bacher says he never blamed Pakistan for fixing World Cup matches, a senior Pakistani official claims. Bacher clarifies to the PCB that he did not mention the name of any country or umpire while telling Australian newspapers on April 19 that a few World Cup matches were fixed.

The Indian government orders the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the match fixing allegations and to find out whether any Indian cricketer or official was involved. Sports Minister SS Dhindsa tells Parliament the probe has been ordered to clear the air but does not set out any time frame for the investgations to be completed. He also says that cases registered by the New Delhi Police against Hansie Cronje would be pursued to the logical conclusion. New Delhi police has stressed that no Indian player is linked to the Cronje investigation.

ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya, welcoming the government initiative, says it will be in the interest of Indian cricket if the atmosphere is cleared. ``I am delighted the government is taking an active interest in the matter. We will co-operate fully with the investigations.''

Former BCCI president IS Bindra, who has been at loggerheads with Dalmiya, also welcomes the news of the CBI probe. ``A government probe is different from what the BCCI carried out three years ago. I will be the first to help them in any way possible. If it is names they want, they will get names.''

Former England all rounder Chris Lewis says that he has no regrets about pitching England into the match fixing scandal. Lewis had earlier been criticised by England Cricket Board chairman Lord MacLaurin after it was decided that there was not enough evidence to substantiate Lewis' claims that three England Test stars had taken money from an Indian businessman. While accepting the findings of the inquiry, the Lewis camp were stunned by MacLaurin's statement which implied that the player had refused to co-operate when the allegations first came to light last August. Lewis' agent Gareth James challenged the ECB to release notes made during a meeting between the two parties at the start of the investigation where it was claimed an agreemnnt was reached that Lewis should not name the men involved. Lewis however remains tainted by the events of the previous two weeks but was adamant that his actions were correct. ``I told the truth and whether people to choose to believe me, that is up to them,'' he says. ``I am extremely comfortable with what I have done but it seems as though people want to play politics.'' MacLaurin, for his part, said no action would be taken against Lewis for his public pronouncements.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman General Tauqir Zia says that the findings of the judicial commission on match fixing would be made public soon and guilty players punished. ``I have promised the ICC to submit the report of the inquiry in June and I will live up to my words,'' Zia tells a news agency from Karachi. The report of the commission, headed by the Lahore High Court judge Malik Mohammed Qayyum has been awaiting action since November. ``We will make the report public before presenting it to the ICC,'' says Zia. He refutes speculation that Qayyum's report has been tampered with. ``Qayyum's recommendations will be implemented and the facts will be published,'' he says. The judge has reportedly recommended a life ban on former captain Salim Malik and Mushtaq Ahmed and removal of Wasim Akram as captain and fines on several others.

The Sunday Times reveals that three Sri Lankan players were approached by Indian bookmakers during the 1992 Australian tour of Sri Lanka. According to the paper, Roshan Mahanama, Asanka Gurusinha and Sanath Jayasuriya were all approached and offered money for information and match forecasting. The three prominent players refused to co-operate but it is alleged that other Sri Lankan players did accept the bookmakers money. The three players contacted the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka after the incident and asked the board for police protection. The BCCSL confirm that bookmakers have approached some of the players. Siddath Wettimuny, who will be representing Sri Lanka at the emergency ICC meeting in London, tells the Sunday Times on Saturday, ``Three of the players were approached and Roshan was one of them. He came to speak to me about it. The allegations date back to the Sri Lanka's dramatic defeat by Australia during the first Test match of the 1992 tour by the Australians. During the match, Sri Lanka claimed a first innings lead of 291 after scoring 547 in their first innings and looked certain of victory when they reached 127 for two chasing 181 in the final innings. However they collapsed and eventually lost the match by 16 runs. An insider tells the Sunday Times that he believes that shortly before or during the Test, the bookmaker approached the three players in Colombo. The Sri Lankans were not the only players who were approached during the tour. Australian batsman Dean Jones has confirmed that he was offered 50,000 US dollars in a `bisucit tin' to help with forecasting during that 1992 series.

Former Indian all rounder Manoj Prabhakar claims he has revealed the name of the teammate who allegedly offered him Rs 25 lakh to under perform in the 1994 Singer Cup series in Sri Lanka to a `big gun in government' without disclosing who the big shot is. In his column on a website, the Delhi based Prabhakar says it was ``something I have been waiting for. Someone well placed in government will bear me out when I say that I will have no hesitation in naming the senior teammate who offered me Rs 25 lakh to underact in the Singer Cup game against Pakistan in Colombo in 1994. He has already heard me name the central character in the drama.'' Prabhakar adds that this is ``my chance to prove that I have nothing against cricket as such. After all it is the game that has given me so much joy. I will be the last to hurt or defame cricket. On the contrary, I will be the first to unmask those who have corrupted the game.''

Former Indian Cricket Board president IS Bindra, who has alleged there is widespread match fiixing in the game, flies to London and seeks permission to attend the ICC meeting saying he is ready to present `crucial information' on match fixing. Bindra says he has come here to make himself available to his former colleagues in the ICC, a body whose deliberations he often attended from 1984 to 1996 in various capacities connected with Indian cricket. ``This evil (match fixing) is now threatening to destroy all that is dear to us in the game,'' he says.

ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin launches an anti corruption campaign by demanding the world's governing body declare themselves free of any financial interest in the sport. MacLaurin promises before the start of the two day emergency meeting of the ICC that an investigation should start `from the president down.' He signals that intent at the start of the meeting by insisting all 18 members of the executive board sign a declaration indicating they have no financial interest in cricket and agree to open their accounts for inspection. The declaration gives the ICC a mandate to begin their inspection of other levels of the game, knowing their own credentials are very much open to scrutiny.

ICC's open stance is welcomed by the Federation of International Cricketers' Association (FICA) a newly founded body which represents members from all nine Test playing nations who have put their observations in writing to David Richards, ICC chief executive. ``It's crucial that the most thorough investigation is undertaken to include every level of the professional game reflecting both the players participating in the matches but also those individuals involved in the staging of international matches'' says chief executive of the FICA David Graveney.

ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya is cleared of allegations of malpractice by the game's governing body. Dalmiya is suing Prasar Bharathi's former financial advisor Arun Agarwal following the claim that the rights to the ICC Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998 were sold in a cut price deal to a company with which Dalmiya had an interest. ICC chief executive David Richards confirms that Dalmiya, along with the 18 other delegates attending the ICC meeting at Lord's, has signed a statement put forward by England Cricket Board chairman Lord MacLaurin that he had no financial interest in the game of cricket other than those which are already known. ``There is no evidence to suggest that any person in the ICC benefited from this contract,'' says a statement issued by the ICC. Richards' defence is a ringing endorsement of his president who claims that his `reputation has been injured and harmed by the conspiracy against him,' when he filed his law suit against Agarwal.

Dave Richards challenges former Indian Cricket Board president IS Bindra to make a formal written submission to the ICC solicitors after making a series of match fixing allegations. ``He has written to us indicating that he has a certain amount of information so we have advised him to contact our solicitors'' says Richards.

In India, the Central Bureau of Investigation registers a preliminary enquiry into the match-fixing scandal after receiving a formal letter from the Sports Ministry to conduct a broad-based probe into the scandal. The letter, sent by the ministry, asks the agency to make a general inquiry into the allegation of match-fixing. The inquiry will cover all the allegations levelled by some cricketers and members of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the past. The CBI has also been empowered to probe any other scandal or allegations concerning the game.

India may seek the co-operation of Scotland Yard in its probe into the match-fixing allegations when a team of the British investigating agency comes here in connection with investigations into similar charges in that country, the Lok Sabha is informed. Replying during Question Hour on the match-fixing issue, Home Minister LK Advani says Interpol's assistance is already being taken and the investigations would be pursued vigorously. "When the Scotland Yard team comes here to investigate the allegations of match-fixing against English cricketers, we can also seek their help in our own investigations," he says.

Stating that government would provide full protection to all those who provide information in the match-fixing probe, he ruled out legalising betting.

Scotland Yard detectives hold talks in New Delhi with top officials on the match fixing scandal. KK Paul, deputy commissioner of New Delhi police says he has met with two British detectives Martin Hawkins and Brook Hollburry. The detectives also meet officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The ICC announces that anyone found guilty of match fixing could be banned for life following their two day emergency meeting at Lord's. ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya, declaring that cricket's image will not be allowed to suffer, insists that there is no place for corruption within the game. He says it has been decided that there will be stringest penalties which may even be a life ban if anyone is found guilty of misbehaviour. ``All the countries will co-operate but in case of any country not co-operating to the extent that is required, they could face suspension from cricket. All international players, managers, umpires, match officials, administrators and employees will now be required to give a declaration stating whether he has or has not been approached in getting involved in corruption. These declarations will be obtained on a top priority basis.'' Dalmiya adds that the meeting deliberated on the issues and there was total unanimity in arriving at our decision. ``Our deliberations were directed towards the priority of the ICC which is not to allow cricket to be affected by any unacceptable behaviour. The board of directors are committed to the eradication of corruption from the game.'' Dalmiya says that an investigating party which will be totally independent and will be known as the Corruption Investigating Party will be set up immediately. ``It will be headed by a very senior experienced person having a legal background or having experience in investigations, like a QC or of that rank.'' Dalmiya adds this will be done in two months. ``The appointment will be in consultation with the chairman of the ICC code of conduct commission Lord Griffiths and once it's been set up it will work independently and will directly report to the chairman of the commission.''

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan criticises the ICC proposal to offer immunity to international cricketers for coming clean about match fixing. He tells Britain's TalkSport radio station: ``These proposals are bizarre. I don't know how anyone can come up with this idea. It is all very well for the ICC to offer immunity but what about individual national cricket boards and the law of the land?''

Australia's first class cricketers face scrutiny as the fight against corruption in the sport spreads to the grassroots level. At the Lord's meeting, which resolved to seek a declaration from all international cricketers, umpires, team officials and administrators as to whether they had been approached to get involved in corruption, Australian officials are believed to support widening the declarations to include all its first class cricketers, an option permitted by the ICC.

Australian Cricket Board chairman Dennis Rogers expresses delight at the outcome of the ICC meeting. ``To think that the ICC's been further empowered that any country that does not co-operate can be suspended from international cricket is I think a great decision,'' says Rogers. ``The reigstation of players and declarations of any player or official participation in corruption is important and the creation of an independent investigatory facility is most important.'' Rogers says Australia is committed to co-operate with police forces in the case of any criminal behaviour. ``If that is necessary, that is what we will do,'' he says. ``If there is new evidence that comes forward we may well have to conduct another inquiry.''

Former Indian captain Kapil Dev comes down heavily on suggestions that he is involved in match fixing saying it is ``a joke that has gone too far.'' Former BCCI chief IS Bindra tells CNN in an interview that former Indian all rounder Manoj Prabhakar had named Kapil as the teammate who offered him a bribe to under perform in the Singer Cup match against Pakistan in Sri Lanka in 1994. According to Bindra, Prabhakar said Kapil had offered him Rs 25 lakhs to under perform. Kapil vehemently denies the charge. ``I have lost interest in what has become a joke that has gone too far. I don't have to prove my credibility after playing for 20 years.'' Kapil, the current coach of the Indian team, pleads for calm in the match fixing turmoil and says that the law should be allowed to take its course. ``This is going too far and people are getting carried away. I am not interested in personal vendettas. The government has to do its job and we should let it do that.''

Indian team coach Kapil Dev expresses the view that the Indian team should pull out of the Asia Cup to be held at Bangladesh later this month. ``It is my personal opinion not to play because of the prevalent atmosphere'' Kapil Dev tells an Indian newspaper. ``You can understand what frame of mind the players will be in.'' He however stresses he will not desert the team if the BCCI sends the team to the tournament. ``I can't leave the team at this stage. I am with the boys,'' he says.

Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik says he is ready to face any inquiry on match fixing and rejects reports that he is planning to quit the country for good. ``I am in Pakistan and will remain in Pakistan until all the inquiries clear me,'' Malik tells a news agency from Lahore. Malik, the central character in Pakistan's match fixing controversy, is one of two players who faces a life ban from the game. Malik Mohammed Qayyum, a judge of the Lahore High Court who headed the judicial probe into the match fixing allegations in Pakistan, has reportedly recommended a life ban on Malik and leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.