'Match-fixing has shaken people's faith in the game'

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, JUNE 18. There was a touch of concern in his appearance but Greg Chappell is not a man willing to have his heart in his mouth following widespread allegations of betting and match- fixing in international cricket. Chappell, 51, belongs to the old school. He played cricket as hard as an Australian can be expected to, wore the baggy green in 88 Tests, scored 7110 runs embellished with 24 centuries at an average of 53.86, and is steadfast in his faith that the game is bigger than individuals.

Two decades ago at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, there was pin- drop silence in the Australian dressing room even as the Kiwis gave vent to their fury by throwing around things in their dressing room after Chappell asked younger brother Trevor to bowl underarm in the last ball of the World Series Cup final at MCG. Not a teammate uttered a word to him; in the dressing room, taxi, airport lounge and until the plane was about to take off. But Chappell has not forgotten the two words a young girl told him near the boundary line. ``You cheated'' she said, catching Chappell's shirt sleeve.

He felt remorse and did not tour England for the Ashes series in 1981. ``I had to live through it for some time,'' said Chappell at the Khar Gymkhana on Saturday. Twenty years later, Chappell, picked in Australia's team of the century, while responding to players like Hansie Cronje, Mohammad Azharuddin and Brian Lara allegedly linked to betting and match-fixing said, ``I think it (match-fixing and betting) has shaken the people's faith in the game and individuals. It is disappointing.

``But it is not the end of the world. I think what this will turn out will be seen as the watershed that has brought to light as much as possible what has been going on... obviously it's been a much wider spread than what was envisaged. But I cannot comment on individuals... I don't have evidence. But obviously there has been some high profile players involved... that's sad, disappointing.

``At the end of the day, it is going to be sad and disappointing for them because it's their life that's going to be ruined by it. But the game of cricket has survived, and cricket is big enough to survive provided there is commitment within the cricket community to rid the game of this cancer. I think the game will survive and get stronger. We will look back in 10 year's time and see this as a blip on the radar and as a sad chapter in cricket, but not the end of cricket.''

When asked if the ICC or any body can really purge the malady out of the system because money can always tempt people, he said, `` There will always be temptations in the world... that's the fact of life. What cricket has got to do is make sure that the damage is minimal and the opportunity is minimal for it to happen in the future and that the message is loud and clear that if players want to involve themselves, then they are not wanted in the game. That's the message that has to come through.''

Blowing the whistle

On the controversial issue of the ACB not going public immediately after Shane Warne and Mark Waugh told it about being approached by Salim Malik, he remarked, ``it was totally a different environment at that stage. There's no suggestion that either of those players (Warne and Mark Waugh) were involved in match-fixing. In fact they were the ones who blew the whistle on Salim Malik, when he allegedly approached them about match- fixing. So if anything, they were the ones who started it all and brought it to light.

``So, they have had a role to play on the positive side as much on the negative side of it. But what they did was silly. I think they recognised that very soon after they were involved in it and they went to the authorities and talked to them about it. Now, whether the authorities handled it as well as they could have is debatable. I don't want to get into that debate. But the fact of the matter is, it has happened. We have got to deal with that and make sure that it does not happen again in the future.''

About ICC role's in tackling the issue, Chappell emphasised that the responsibility of the member countries are more. ``The ICC is a product of the Test playing countries. Really, the commitment has to come from the countries. The ICC cannot do much without the backing of the countries. The individual countries need to show the commitment and maybe out of this, in time, the ICC will have more responsibility. Really the ICC is only as strong as the countries that make it up. To do it across international boundaries is not easy, but the commitment and will must be there for each country to sort out what's going on within their boundaries, solve the problems and go forward.''

The former Australian captain was not sure if better payments would bring a permanent solution. ``Not necessarily. Some people will never be tempted, some people will be tempted under certain circumstances and to some people, I suppose there will always be temptations.

``What I think is, a proper structure in place will not allow these things to happen. The sport has to take as much steps it can to make sure that players are not involved in betting on the game. In most other sports the players are not even allowed into gambling environments and not allowed to consort with bookmakers. Human nature is human nature... there is always somebody who is going to be tempted.

``The sad thing it seems to me is that quite a number have been tempted. I don't think we can ever expect to have a totally pure game... we have got to make sure that we are vigilant... we are aware of what's going on. What you can do is make your best endeavour. The thing is if the stories are true about the amounts of money involved, you can never pay the players enough to remove temptations because there's going to be more money available to tempt them with. But I don't have all the answers... I don't know the extent of match-fixing.''

Greg Chappell (right) and Sunil Gavaskar snapped at the Khar Gymkhana in Mumbai on Saturday. Chappell was in Mumbai to announce a special programme on Sport Management in cricket, tennis and golf.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Fritz outwits Anand
Next     : West Indies humiliates England