FORMER leg-spinner Danish Kaneria’s recent confession regarding his role in a spot-fixing scandal that had rocked English county cricket in 2012 has reignited the debate over the eradication of this menace. The cricketer, who was banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board six years ago for being the ‘middleman’ in the nasty scam that involved his county teammate, Mervyn Westfield, had been denying the charges all along, besides fighting his case in court. However, the prolific leggie who remained Pakistan’s leading spinner in Tests with 261 wickets, finally admitted to his crime this week in a documentary. The former cricketer’s confession, which refers to Indian bookie Anu Bhatt as the main culprit in enticing the players, coincides with the disclosure made by the ICC’s senior anti-corruption unit official Alex Marshall, who accused India of being the hub of corrupt bookies. Fixing, it seems, is rampant, especially in Asian cricket.

It is unfortunate that despite the damage done to world cricket by match-fixing since the reprehensible practice erupted in the mid-1990s, the authorities have been unable to get to the bottom of it. Piecemeal measures taken by cricket boards in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have hardly helped. Even domestic cricket circuits in the countries have been sullied. Besides, the mushrooming T20 leagues around the world, which allow even the lesser-known players to earn a full year’s remuneration in a matter of weeks, are now seen as the primary venues for fixing and are a happy hunting ground for bookies. Our own PSL was hit hard by a spot-fixing row last year that saw opener Sharjeel Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif and Shahzaib Hasan banned from international cricket for varying periods. Critics have warned that with the advent of the T10 league in the UAE, the fixing phenomenon could reach outrageous proportions. They correctly insist that the ICC and member boards verify the credentials of league owners and their motives before allowing the players to be part of the project.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2018