ICC Pledge To Fight Match-fixing (20 Jun 1997)

20 June 1997

ICC Pledge To Fight Match-fixing

CALCUTTA -- International Cricket Council president Jagmohan Dalmiya yesterday promised to tackle the menace of betting and match-fixing.

"Issues like betting and match-fixing will not be swept under the carpet," Dalmiya told reporters on his return to Calcutta after taking over as ICC president at its annual meeting in London.

"The ICC possesses enough teeth to tackle match-fixing in international cricket if the menace raises its head," he said.

International cricket had its brush with match-fixing three years ago when Australians Shane Warne and Tim May charged the then Pakistan captain Salim Malik with offering them bribes to lose a test match.

The Australian Cricket Board forwarded the statements of Warne and May to the ICC, which in turn asked the Pakistan cricket authorities to look into the matter.

Pakistan Cricklet Board suspended Malik and team manager Intikhab Alam pending the inquiry by a Supreme Court judge.

The ACB wanted the game's governing body to hold an independent inquiry but the ICC chairman, Sir Clyde Walcott, expressed his helplessness, citing lack of power.

Warne and May did not appear in the inquiry by the Pakistani judge which exonerated Malik, who then returned to test cricket after a two-year gap.

Pakistan opener Aamir Sohail recently accused his team-mates of throwing matches and former Indian test all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar accused cricketers of being hand in glove with bookies in fixing matches.

Source :: The Christchurch Press (https://www.press.co.nz)