NEW DELHI: Promising a corruption-free 2015 World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday said it has struck partnerships with law enforcement agencies in Australia and New Zealand in its endeavour to prevent bookies from associating with the players.

“Corruption in any sport is a big challenge these days. Cricket has led the way in that fight against corruption. The measures that have been put in place for the 2015 World Cup are probably the most stringent than ever before,” ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said.

“For the first time, partnerships have been struck between the ICC and the law enforcement agencies in both Australia and New Zealand,” Richardson said on the sidelines of an ICC event.

The ICC is working overtime with investigative agencies to even track down any illegal betting or bookies, who may be looking to come in contact with players.

“Our anti-corruption unit doesn’t have its own police investigatory powers but when we team up with the likes of the Australian Federal Police and New Zealand Police then that gives us the arms in our necks.

“And I can assure the people that if anybody is planning on trying to fix matches or trying to associate with players at this [World Cup] event they will find it very difficult indeed and I can safely say that the World Cup would be free of any corruption or spot-fixing,” said Richardson.

After playing a successful host in 1992, which was the first World Cup in coloured clothing, Australia and New Zealand want to go better in showcasing the 50-over format as a major attraction of the sport.

“Cricket is unique in the sense that it has got three formats of the same game. It has got something for everybody. The 50-over format I think is the perfect bridge between the traditional Test match version and the Twenty20 short sharp version, which is sometimes referred to more as entertainment than a sport.

“The new rules in the 50-over format have made the game far more attacking from the runs per over point of view. Secondly more wickets are being taken,” said the former South African wicketkeeper-batsman.

With new ODI rules in place, the 50-over format has seen a sea change from the 1980s and 90s brand of cricket and Richardson, who was sharing the stage with Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, said that the game has become aggressive for the better.

Published in Dawn, November 25th , 2014