I am not really happy with writing this post.
But I figured I should.
In the last few weeks several people, international cricketers, professional cricketers and cricket administracrats, have contacted me about the topic of match fixing.
All of them believe that match fixing is happening again.
From the top level of cricket down.
These people gave me games that they believe have been fixed.
For many reasons I can’t give you the games, but so far I haven’t seen one game that was given to me that proved beyond my reason of doubt that they were thrown.
I put some down to inconsistency, some down to shitting yourself in pressure some down to the fact that modern captaincy is about as impressive as the film Crank.
No matter what I said to some of these people they still believed that the fix was in.
It doesn’t really matter that I don’t believe match fixing is happening, it matters that players and officials inside the game do believe.
Unfortunately, and predictably, no one wants to come forward.
And it is a shame because even if some obscure player came forward it would get the issue back in the open. Not these are obscure players, and from what I can tell this is a belief that is spreading throughout many players.
Last time match fixing came around it was about the time one day cricket went really took hold, funny that now 2020 is taking over people think match fixing is back.
Just a few notes on this post:
This isn’t a piss take.
I will never name anyone involved, you can guess if you want, but trust me you won’t get close.
EDIT: By match fix, i did also mean fancy fix. That is the more common allegation, however, match fixing was also mentioned regularly.
Cricket fans are so fucking naive – to think that the people who play and run the game treat it with as much respect as they do. Oh, and the stock market is a clean playing field too, by the way.
My money is on John Davison.
My guess is michael hussey. This ‘mr cricket’ bullshit doesn’t wash with me.
Probably dan vettori as well. ‘Mr NZ cricket’ selecting no hopers to open the batting.
And the movie Crank was awesome.
A point to consider, and worth considering as part of the balance of what would motivate a fixed match, not the sole defining factor, is the simple mathematics of the money involved which motivates the actors in the event.
A horse racing event goes on at a regional racecourse, low grade, and the prize money on offer, all of the trimmings that would come with the win, could be hundreds of times lower than the net volume of cash being traded at the bookies and on the exchanges. Which is in itself not the whole pie, excluding hand to hand cash. Therefore the motivation to fix a race in pure finanical terms is almost wholly rational. Why risk the paltry thousands on offer for a win when there are tens, hundreds of thousands on the table, the bird in the hand for a different choice?
Then consider the size of the off book gambling market in India.
For it to be on people’s minds…is it really a surprise?
I’m not sure about the fixing of match results. That would just take too much to pull off. There was that Pak vs Aus game the other week which attracted some attention, but Asif & Rana bowled their asses off to almost grab the win (maybe no one gave them the script!)
I’m sure that ‘fancy fixing’ is rife though. ’2 boundaries this over’ or ‘a wicket this over’ is a lot easier to fix, a lot easier to signal to players, and you don’t need the whole team involved.
Hewy is dead on. Throwing the result of a game? That’s rediculous. Why would you bother doing it? You would need quite a few players/officials involved and the pay off would be no better than a ‘fancy fix’. It would be heaps easier (and is probably happening quite frequently) to pay off one or two blokes for a much more refined result – so and so to get a duck, or less than ten, that would be the easiest fix in the world, and who is to say if you got out on purpose?
Hell, If I was trying to get out on purpose I can’t imagine I’d look any worse, or score any less!
Throwing results? Now that’s a good way to get caught – and killed! Ask Hansie. Ask Woolmer. Ask Darryl Hair – oh wait, they haven’t killed him yet (how much do you think he got for making sure England won? I’m guessing a million, ‘cos that’s the same figure he pulled for the ICC to shut him out).
I was never sure why the ICL match-fixing didn’t become a scandal. I guess no-one cared about the ICL. There were plenty of rumours and denials and what seemed to be sweeping under the carpet. Good article by Peter Roebuck on the topic here.
Ned, you’re right that it’s far easier to rig a ‘fancy fix’, but remember the amount of money involved in those markets, for example whether an over in a 20/20 match goes for either more or less than 10 runs, is very limited. It is also far more prominent and obvious if disproportionately larger bets are placed on specialist areas where they would not normally be expected. Betfair for example has agreements with various governing bodies to report disproportionately large or unusual betting patterns.
Due to the nature of the 20/20 format it would be perfectly plausible for just one man, the captain, to affect the result.
But games have been fixed before, wasn’t that what Hansie had to ‘come out’ about and it didnt need the whole team to do it.
I hadn’t read that article by Peter Roebuck, thanks for referencing it, DavidBarry.
Yeah, good article, Dave. Hadn’t seen that before.
Apart from the spotlight falling on a couple of big names everyone else seemed to get away with all that match fixing stuff at the turn of the century – apart from Hansie of course. Everyone else is sitting pretty, especially Aza. He’s got more money than the Queen of England.
If everyone that was explicitly named as doing this stuff, gets away with it and gets to keep the cash then no wonder it’s rife again.
The betting in the sub-continent is more of the ‘Miandad hits a boundary this over’ or ‘Tendulkar scores less than 10′ variety. Everyone used to do it during the Azar-Akram-Cronje days – families watching the match would call a middle-man to bet on some such trifling to add spice to the entertainment. Dubai dons would bet in millions to impress their consorts (mostly Bollywood film starlets).
Though i dont know how you can fix a ‘boundary this over’ event beforehand, but most events can be fixed or influenced by bowling changes, mis-fields, bad field placing etc etc). Remember Ata-ur-Rehman’s emotional testimony about Akram forcing him to bowl wides and full-tosses – Ata-ur never played again. Nor did the immensely talented Basit Ali.
When the scandals broke, it became less popular, but T20 is designed for morons to bet on, so it will surely revive.
My gambling addict mathematician friend in the US tells me that every College basketball game is fixed, so take heart, we have a long way to go.
What really riles me is that Jadeja and Kapil got away. And the father of match fixing – Gavaskar, who began it all in Sharjah. Azar, equally guilty, was the convenient fall-guy, being Muslim.
Heres a CBI report on Prabhakar (scroll to the bottom to get all the other reports):
http://www.yehhaicricket.com/CBI/players/ManojPrabhakar.html
The transcripts of the Tehelka tapes of Manoj Prabhakar make fantastic reading.
Have edited the piece, I always meant match fix as the broader term.
Well, I didn’t know that these novelty bets were the thing that drove the subcontinent betting. If that really is the case then 20/20 presents a formidable veil to cover up small scale ‘fancy fixing’.
I hope that the old TV show Banzai never made it to the subcontinent…
And ‘fancy fixing’ should really be putting a chocolate topping on a cupcake instead of manupulation.
At last, Otago’s performances in the Champions League are explained.
.-= Leg Break´s last blog ..Bowling through India, with giveaway =-.
I always thought that ‘fancy fixing’ was neutering your show cat. Sorry Mims.
I think shoib akhtar took your definition literally.
The FTP (read also: Fuck tests program) was fixed in one way or the other.
Guys,
Ricky, Dhoni with BCCI and CA all all involved.. I think BCCI and CA have already made a deal about the results for the current on going series (India-Australia). And also those who are not interested in the fixing are made to rest in the game stating some injury.
Why the hell on earth did ponting elected to field when he wonhis previous match fielding second. Even toss is also decided one even before the coin is used. Like who ever wins the toss India will bat first.
They are simply making money using we ignorant people. Even I dont think in the champions league T20, T & T though played well untill the semi finals they were losing the semis. BUt some how or other the best fielding side of SA dropped 3 sitters.. This is too much for a coincidence. Y T&T should make the finals? because more Indian people made to the ground for T&T matches as the tournament progressed. You also saw Modi present on that semi final day.
Having said all this I will still watch cricket. Useless me.
Blimey, people do drop catches you know.
Having said that I have started to wonder about Cam White. He batted unbelievably slowly in the 20/20 CL semi. For someone who used to be able to slug it around…