Strauss urges players to come clean

Andrew Strauss today urged players to take advantage of the amnesty announced by England and come forward if they have any information following bowler Mervyn Westfield pleading guilty to spot-fixing.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last week offered an amnesty to players to report past match-fixing approaches.

Westfield, 23, the first player to admit to a corruption charge in a county match, entered a guilty plea to charges of accepting or obtaining a corrupt payment to bowl in a way that would allow the scoring of runs.

He received £6000 (NZ$9199) to bowl so that 12 runs would be scored in the first over of a match against Durham in September 2009, although, in fact, only 10 were scored.

Westfield will be sentenced on February 10.

Strauss said the incident should serve as an example.

‘‘The ECB have provided an amnesty for players to come forward in the next three months and I’d urge them to do that if they do have any information,’’ said Strauss yesterday, a day before the first test against Pakistan in Dubai.

The buildup to the three-test series was also marred by the talk of the spot-fixing scandal involving three Pakistan players – Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer – who were sentenced over the charges of cheating and corruption.

The charges related to deliberate no-balls the trio contrived during the Lord’s test in August 2010.

Strauss said it was imperative to deal with the menace.

‘‘If it is there we need to root it out.

‘‘We need to get it dealt with and move on. If you want world cricket to be in good order, then you have to make sure your own house is clean first.’’ Strauss said he was taken by surprise when the allegations surfaced in May 2010. Westfield and Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria were arrested on suspicions of involvement in spotfixing.

‘‘Kaneria was later released and not charged.

‘‘It took me completely by surprise when it first came out and I’ve certainly not witnessed anything in my time.

‘‘But let’s not be arrogant and just assume it’s not there, because clearly there has been an incident and if there has been one incident, then there is a fair chance that there have been others.’’

Strauss said there was a lot more awareness after these two incidents.