AT STAKE IS THE VERY HEART AND SOUL OF THE GAME

THE only surprise when another cricket corruption story emerges is the surprise that greets it. That is not a comment on the truth or otherwise of Al Jazeera’s allegations against three England and two Australia Test cricketers. But it does tell you that, all too often, cricket doesn’t want to know. Ranks only open to reveal glimpses of prejudice. ‘Corruption? Our boys? That’s something the other lot do…’ Whatever the players’ colour or creed, cricket can’t afford to be complacent. After all, as recently as December it emerged that the ICC were involved in SEVEN live anticorruption investigations. In the past few months, three international captains — Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed, Zimbabwe’s Graeme Cremer and an unknown other — have reported illegal approaches by bookmakers. And in January, footage went viral of dodgy occurrences in an unsanctioned Twenty20 event in the UAE calling itself the Ajman All Stars. The ICC quickly declared it was probably corrupt. So, yes: unscrupulous bookmakers are doing their best to welcome naive or greedy or desperate players into their embrace. Some are blackmailed because of an initial indiscretion — a honeytrap or an undeclared acceptance of a Rolex watch or flashy car. But while most

cricketers now have no excuses, thanks in part to more rigorous education programmes by anticorruption units around the world, it is clear the figure has not yet reached 100 per cent. At stake is more than a few sensational headlines. It is the heart and soul of the game. While some sports — athletics, say, or cycling — are indelibly tainted with scandal, cricket likes to regard itself as a moral beacon, a game so pure it has even given the world a phrase to prove it: ‘That’s just not cricket.’ Of course, even the most cursory glance at its history tells you this is nonsense. Matches in 18th-century England were played purely for the benefit of bookmakers and rich patrons keen to grow even richer. More recently, South Africa’s God-fearing captain Hansie Cronje was exposed as a serial cheat. Whispers about this game or that, a match here, a tournament there, are part and parcel of press-box chat. The trouble is, almost all of them are impossible to prove — short of a taped confession. Al Jazeera haven’t got that, since their sting was aimed at alleged fixers and corruptors, rather than the players themselves. Even if these characters could be persuaded to take the witness stand, their credentials would be demolished by any halfdecent barrister. But the broadcasters have produced a programme, based on 18 months of investigative work, containing sufficient material to persuade the ICC to launch an investigation. Whatever they find, they are doing the right thing. Because if the faith of cricket’s fans in the sport they love continues to erode, story by story, cricket will have nothing left. It is a lesson that other sports have learned to their cost.