Warne scandal

Cricket Australia might not want to get involved in Shane Warne's text-messaging scandal, but James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, has expressed the view that it was hurting the game.

Sutherland told the Sydney Morning Herald that he had been trying to contact Warne, but he hadn't had his messages returned. "No-one likes bad news stories about someone with such a strong association with the game," he said. "These are allegations. Shane, like anybody, is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. But it is inevitable that such reports, in some way, have an effect on the game. It's a fact of life that cricketers now have a much higher profile."

According to Sutherland, there was often discussion over behavioural matters during contract talks, and at camps. The greater scrutiny the players were under, both on and off the field, was the very result of the success they have achieved on the field. But the players need to realise their responsibilities as "custodians" of the game, and be mindful of the "spirit of cricket", said Sutherland.

While Warne maintained his silence, the woman concerned, Helen Cohen Alon, said yesterday that she was not trying to blackmail Warne. According to reports, though, she had offered to sell her side of the story for a whopping US$250,000.