Why cricket should thank Mazhar Majeed and the spot-fixing scandal

The verbal diarrhoea that sprouted out of alleged bookie Mazhar Majeed’s mouth didn’t spare anyone over the contentious issue of corruption in the game of cricket.

When he dared to indict the Aussies in his claims by labeling them the biggest fixers of all, the outrage was palpable. Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland labelled the claims as ‘baseless and outlandish’, Nathan Bracken had his lawyer on speed-dial threatening to sue, and others labeled the claims as ‘appalling’, such as Paul Marsh, the Chief Executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association.In truth, all these powerful men making loud noises on their soap boxes makes you think in a manner that you logically do when confronted by this occurrence in life. Their collective reactions makes one believe that shreds of truth might exist in the claims made by the fixer, for all they had to do to kill the words from Mr Majeed was simply say this..‘We cordially invite anyone that has any doubts about the credibility of Cricket Australia or it’s players to come in with auditors and investigators, and we will provide them with any information they so desire”They failed to adequately kill it, and in truth fueled the controversy to the point that quite literally the wax fell out of every cricket fan’s ears on hearing the claims. For it is okay to point the finger at players from an Asian Country in regards to being corrupt, but dare to mention an Aussie as having any connection and this will be the reaction. It is strange when you take into account the fact that out of a population of 21 million, it is reported that collectively, Australians gamble $11 billion per annum or roughly $523 for every Aussie. The number is actually huge, considering that n estimated 26% of the population are under the legal gambling age of 18.

Remember the incidents involving Shane Warne, Mark Waugh and ‘John the Bookmaker’? The Aussies are definitely not clean as they proclaim themselves to be when it comes to fixing. Away from the Aussies, it has been a known fact since the beginning of time and the Garden of Eden that human nature covets the forbidden fruits. So all this talk about education or pay scales or the threat of severe punishments is just a load of old codswallop. True lip service, only serving to show a denial and ignorance of the real depth of the issue. View the tragic case of Hansie Cronje to understand this.

In a somewhat surreal and sadistic sense, cricket as a whole needs to thank Mr Majeed, for the furore of his claims has done some good for the game, which is perfectly expressed by Shane Watson in the following quote.

‘We never want anything to happen to the game but with all these allegations flying around people, not just within cricket but outside cricket, start to question exactly certain things that happen in games,’ (SkyNews)

The fact that these allegations will make everyone wake up to the harsh realities in cricket is a great result, but the ICC and associated Cricket Boards must take it further by being more vigilant in the scheduling of ODI series or cash cow T20 games that are nothing more than meaningless series, and prime targets for fixers as embodied in these thoughts.

Game after game means cricket is not as special as it used to be. Some matches do not hold great significant and that leads to the possibility of corruption. Would a fixer target a game in the spotlight or one under the radar? (ROAR)

There have been many calls for gambling to be legalised in cricket as a way to track any possible corruption more easily, but this is fundamentally flawed, for any bet that were in regard to a fix would be done in the secrecy of a black market set-up rather than with any hint of detection.The key is the pro-activity of the ICC as viewed in its scheduling of games and its investigations into matters of corruption such as the ongoing issue. Investigations into corruption should be conducted with the same vigour as that of random drug tests; sending investigators and auditors to target nations and players without prior warning and rattle their cages, for it is easier to catch a cheat when he thinks their is no focus on him rather than when it is touted that he is under suspicion. If this is undertaken, I am near certain that it would uncover more cheats from all nations, and in the long run cleanse the game of its unwanted stigma, restoring the games credibility, for which we as fans so desperately desire.