Some players, the report says "were coerced into malpractice". The final reason given is: "It was just too easy."The most "vulnerable" matches, the report says, are those "where little is at stake, other than pride. Typically the last match in a series that has already been won convincingly by a team and substantial odds are being offered against them being beaten by the weaker side." One-day internationals, where teams have already qualified for a later stage or been eliminated, are also targets. The report notes that Hansie Cronje called these "soft matches".One-day internationals on neutral territory are also treated by some players as an opportunity "to maximise the receipt of gifts or indulge in under-performance for betting purposes". Lord Condon concludes that "there is overwhelming evidence of a significant unlawful market place for betting on all international matches".The role of organised crime is also addressed "It is alleged ... that a major criminal had access to an individual team and wielded undue influence over team selection and performance," the report says. "It is also alleged that a murder in South Africa was a contract killing as a result of a dispute between rival corruptors from other countries.
The proceeds of corruption in cricket are sufficiently large to attract the attention of organised crime and corruption provides an opportunity for easy profit and simple money laundering."Although Lord Condon's report has been compiled for the ICC, the governing body does not escape criticism. "For almost half of its history the ICC was a loose and fragile alliance with a small central administration .. with limited budgets and limited powers," he concludes. "Naivety and no clear mandate to deal with corruption exacerbated the problem."To deal with the problem, or at least cut corruption to an "irreducible minimum", Lord Condon has recommended 24 steps for the ICC to take. These include an education programme for everyone in the game, better security, limiting mobile phone use on international match days to stop access to players by corrupt influences, a panel of full-time ?te umpires, and greater involvement of players in the administration of the game.LINING UP THE BIG BETSLine Betting is the name of game in the Far East.
Unlike spread betting, where losses a multiple of the amount by which you miss your target score can be huge, line betting involves a straight wager on an outcome a batsman scoring more or less than 30 runs, for example. The gains are smaller, but so are the risks; if the batsman on whom you bet £1,000 to score more than 30 gets an unlucky ball and is out for 0, a spread bet would cost you tens of thousands. But a line bet, at even money or a shade off odds-on, will lose or win you a fixed sum a lot more satisfactory for the crook in a hurry.Although bookmaking is illegal in India, it is reckoned that 33 per cent of mobile phone calls during a one-day cricket match in Bombay are related to betting on the event. However, although a few bookmakers have tried offering it on football matches, line betting has failed to catch on in Britain.. It was not quite the whitewash some were predicting, though new detail is scant. Instead, Lord Condon's interim report into corruption in cricket is a thorough examination of the malaise affecting the sport formerly known as the "gentleman's game". It was not quite the whitewash some were predicting, though new detail is scant.
