Every international team fixed matches: Paul Condon spills the beans

In a shocking revelation, former ICC Anti Corruption chief Paul Condon has come out in the open and stated that every international team in cricket was involved in match fixing at one point of time or another. He also stated the worst period was the 1990′s and that the match fixing saga was not just restricted to the Indian sub-continent.

In an interview to the Evening Standard, Paul Condon said

“In the late 1990s, Test and World Cup matches were being routinely fixed. From the late eighties certainly through to 1999-2000 there were a number of teams involved in fixing, and certainly more than the Indian sub-continent teams were involved.

“Every international team, at some stage, had someone doing some funny stuff.”

Condon went a step further and stated that nearly all players were aware of what they were doing but kept mum due to a variety of reasons. He acknowledged that Pakistani cricketers faced problems even if they did want to tell about instances of match fixing they knew about.

“We had this Pakistani cricketer who was genuinely frightened that if he had revealed what he knew, there would be repercussions on his family. He was a very valuable informant. We flew him from Pakistan at the ICC’s expense and put him up in safe accommodation in London for about a week while we debriefed him.”

Condon stated that though some of the Pakistani players who refused to come out in the open about match fixing had a valid excuse, there were plenty of players who knew what was going on but still preferred to keep mum.

“A whole generation of cricketers playing in the late 1990s must’ve known what was going on and did nothing. When they look back on their careers, a bit of shame must creep in. The last fixes of whole matches, or even series, were probably in 2001 before we’d really got the unit going.”

Condon talked about his belief the perception of Pakistan being the creator of the match fixing saga was a fallacy and that the real problem of match fixing started with English County Cricket. Though the ‘fixing’ then was of a different kind and did not involve money, that was what set the trend for the future.

“It started with friendly fixes in the UK in the old Sunday leagues. Over a weekend you’d have a county side playing their county match and then a Sunday league match and there would be friendly fixes, not for money but for manipulating places in the leagues.

“If you’re Team A and have a higher position in the Sunday league and I’m captain of Team B and my team have no chance in the Sunday league, I might do a deal to ensure you got maximum points in your Sunday league match. You would reciprocate in the County Championships. These friendly fixes quickly became more sinister, probably in the Eighties.”

On when the phenomenon of spot fixing began to become a menace, Condon stated his beliefs thus.

“In one group match during a couple of overs two guys suddenly went from scoring runs in double figures to just ones and twos. For spot fixing, that’s all you need. From 2003 spot fixing became the name of the game.”

These revelations are startling, given their magnitude and the timing, for they have come out after the British court jailed three Pakistani cricketers for the first time in the history of the game as punishment for fixing. Former Pakistan Captain Salman Butt, bowlers Mohammed Asif and Mohammad Aamer were all given jail sentences, 30 months, 1 year and 6 months respectively.

The match fixing saga in cricket, it might be remembered, started with the acknowledgement of Hansie Cronje in the year 2000 that he had been involved in the crime. That sent the box ticking, and one after another revelations came out of the closet about instances of match fixing.

It is also worthwhile to remember that it was Condon who had persuaded the British Government to make match fixing and cheating criminal offences through the 2005 Gambling Act.