Australian pair 'deserved ban' (25 February 1999)

25 February 1999

Australian pair 'deserved ban'

Electronic Telegraph

AUSTRALIAN Test players Shane Warne and Mark Waugh should have been suspended and had their fines made public over their involvement with an Indian bookmaker, an Australian Cricket Board inquiry found yesterday.

The two-month investigation cleared Australian cricket of involvement in bribery or betting, but criticised the ACB for the way they handled the case.

Rob O'Regan, a lawyer who conducted the inquiry, said of Waugh and Warne: "I do not think it is possible to explain their conduct away as the result of merely naivety or stupidity. They must have known that it is wrong to accept money from, and supply information to, a bookmaker."

ACB chief executive Mal Speed reacted by saying: "With hindsight I think we can look back on these penalties and say yes, perhaps they should have been harsher."

O'Regan's findings revealed that Waugh provided information to the unidentified bookmaker on 10 occasions over five months, including a tour of the West Indies. He was warned by an unnamed senior team-mate in 1994 to stop, yet continued to do so until 1995. Waugh and Warne had been on a tour of Sri Lanka in 1992 when every team member was warned about such practice.

The inquiry also disclosed that Waugh, but not Warne, supplied information about team confidence going into matches to the bookmaker.

O'Regan, a Queen's Counsel, said he was puzzled that the ACB did not link Waugh and Warne's involvement with an Indian bookmaker to the bribery allegations concerning Salim Malik, which the former Pakistan captain denies.

Warne and Waugh had accused Malik of offering them bribes during the Australian team's tour in 1994.

"I came to the conclusion that there was a distinct possibility of a connection between the two matters," O'Regan said. "I don't know how the ACB concluded they were separate."

Speed said serious disciplinary matters would in future be dealt with transparently and the public made aware of the outcome.

Gloucestershire have signed Australian one-day international Ian Harvey as their overseas player. Graham Dilley, the former England fast bowler, will coach Scotland's attack for the World Cup this summer.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)