PCA to remind players of spot-fixing dangers

The Professional Cricketers' Association will be contacting all of its players in England to remind them of the need for vigilance in the wake of the latest match-fixing scandal to rock the sport, but remains confident that the vast majority of the English game remains corruption-free.

The News of the World sting which allegedly showed Mazhar Majeed accepting money to organise pre-arranged no-balls during the Lord's Test between England and Pakistan has once again left cricket assessing its integrity at all levels.

Angus Porter, the PCA chief executive, told Cricinfo it was also considering starting its education programmes earlier than is currently the case to ensure young cricketers are aware of potential dangers. There is considerable sadness around the world game that one of the Pakistan players alleged to be involved in the spot-fixing controversy is the 18-year-old star, Mohammad Amir.

"We are in no way complacent about the English game, but are confident it remains clean," Porter told Cricinfo. "It's impossible to say these things never happen - and we are aware of approaches being made to players - but remain confident that the system we have in place works.

"However, we are currently reminding all the players of their responsibilities and may consider beginning our education programme at an earlier stage. Currently that only starts when a cricketer turns professional but we will give serious thought to going into the Academy system and there is the potential for an online training system to also be implemented."

Players have already been cautioned in their use of social-networking sites such as Facebook and told not to divulge personal information that could be used for 'grooming', a method by which seemingly friendly approaches are made to players with a view to gain information in a manner to the approaches made to Shane Watson and Brad Haddin during the Ashes last year.

The county game suffered its own spot-fixing controversy earlier this season when Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner who is Essex's overseas player, and team-mate Mervyn Westfield were arrested and questioned over alleged spot-fixing during a one-day game at the end of the 2009 season between Essex and Durham. Both players were bailed and Kaneria has continued to play for Essex this season after being dropped by Pakistan, but Westfield has been released by the club.

While spot-fixing is not believed to take place within the UK betting market, the county game is susceptible to corruption because domestic one-day matches are broadcast into the subcontinent, as in the case of the Essex-Durham match.

"We feel both the PCA and ECB are being proactive to ensure the game stays clean in this country," Porter added. "The players understand the importance of being alert to situations and the fact we have had approaches reported to us shows the system works."