Despite the efforts of the establishment and systems in place to curb corruption, match-fixing is one headache cricket is unable to shrug off. With alarming regularity, these incidents keep cropping up and the shortest formats seem incapable of developing a mechanism to curb them. The latest on a long list is the Qatar T10 event held this month. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) anti-corruption chief issued a statement saying that last-minute changes in team ownership and organising personnel prompted them to heighten investigative measures. This led them to a number of ‘corruptors’ in Qatar and elsewhere, and necessitated initiating ‘new investigations’.
This is a dangerous sign because of the pattern that emerges. Franchise-based T20 and now T10 leagues—where matches are telecast live and there is a dash of glamour involved—almost invariably fall prey to betting and eventually fixing. Other than the IPL, similar tournaments in Bangladesh, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa have seen multiple arrests and suspensions for spot-fixing. Cricket in Sri Lanka is witnessing big names popping up related to forbidden practices. Corruption in the England domestic circuit is unusual no longer. The game worldwide is facing this problem. Authorities almost everywhere are noticing a rise in such incidents.
It is not that the ICC or national cricket boards are not aware of this. It has been nearly 20 years since the fixing scandal involving Hansie Cronje and Mohammad Azharuddin was exposed. All the boards have their own anti-corruption wings. They and the ICC’s team are supposed to work in collaboration with intelligence agencies in different countries. By now, they have an idea of the suspects, where they come from and their modus operandi. If the game continues to be vulnerable to these practices, it shows that the establishment is failing in its endeavour to eradicate corruption. Officials are trying to revive Test cricket and strike a balance between the longer and shorter formats, but this is something they have failed to address.