Image courtesy of: The Hindu
Chappell believes every team has fallen victim to the match-fixing bug
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has announced that match-fixing in cricket today is much more rife that what it used to be as bookies are finding it easier to corrupt players, especially during many of the domestic Twenty20 tournaments.
Chappell also noted that he had changed his commentary style recently in order to hint at “dodgy” plays during matches.
“I don’t want people to look back at me and say, ‘Well, he was hot on fixing but he didn’t do anything about it’,” Chappell told The Guardian. “I’ve done what I think I have to do with the information that I’ve been given. If ever I go to court to talk about this and the judge says ‘Well, you didn’t say anything about it at the time,’ I can say to the judge, ‘You go back and listen to my commentary there, and if you listen very closely there’s an indication there that I wasn’t happy with what was going on’.”
Chappell stated that the Pakistan Australia Test match played at Sydney in 2010,which was investigated by the International Cricket Council (ICC), did look awfully shady.
He also questioned the captaincy of former Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf during that match.
“Take your pick,” Chappell said. “That was either very, very bad captaincy or it was dodgy captaincy.”
The former Australian captain added that it would be foolish of anyone to think that one team has completely steered clear of the virus.
“Match fixing in cricket is much more widespread than what the public thinks,” Chappell said. “When all the fixing allegations have been going on in the cricket world, the first thing that people say to you in Australia is that ‘none of our guys are involved are they?’ think you’re a very game person to say that any team is not involved. It’s pretty widespread.”
In response to Chappell’s comments, a Cricket Australia spokesman said: “Cricket Australia has an anti-corruption and security unit to oversee and maintain the integrity of Australia’s domestic competitions.
“As well as monitoring domestic Australian matches, players and officials, the unit administers extensive education programs for all Australian and overseas players and officials involved in Australia’s domestic cricket competitions.
“While we are never complacent, we are confident there are no issues of that nature in Australia and we will continue to do everything necessary to ensure the integrity of Australian cricket.”