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ICC ends inquest into Oval match fixing • Sun newspaper claimed England v Pakistan ODI was rigged• Anti-corruption unit to impose new measures on PakistanCricket's anti-corruption unit has concluded its investigation without charges following newspaper allegations that England's one-day international against Pakistan at The Oval last month was fixed.Less than a month after the match took place in London on September 17, the ICC's anti-corruption unit has decided that "there was no compelling evidence to suspect individual players or support staff."But that was the only crumb of comfort for Pakistan's beleaguered cricket board as an ICC board meeting imposed a 30-day deadline for the introduction of a raft of new measures to combat corruption or risk sanctions that could even include suspension from international cricket.Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has been given wider powers as chairman of the ICC's Pakistan Task Force to ensure that Pakistan gets its house in order. It will be an onerous task and could be the issue on which Clarke's reputation in international cricket is destroyed or made.Following an ICC board meeting in Dubai today, a statement said: "Following extensive investigations… the ACSU has verified all the available information and concluded that there was no compelling evidence to suspect individual players or support staff. The investigation is now complete but if new and corroborating evidence comes to light then clearly the ACSU will reopen the matter."The ICC investigated claims that The Oval ODI was rigged after The Sun newspaper provided what it claimed was evidence that illegal betting syndicates knew details of Pakistan's innings before it began.Nevertheless, the evidence provided, which centred upon a phone conversation between an alleged Dubai-based match-fixer and an illegal Delhi bookmaker, has not been dismissed out of hand by the ACSU and is regarded as useful background into cricket's betting underworld.The allegations followed the provisional suspension of three Pakistan cricketers – the captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – on charges of spot-fixing. Their appeal against that provisional suspension will be heard in Doha, Qatar, on 30 and 31 October and will be chaired by the head of the ICC's code of conduct commission, Michael Beloff QC.But it is Clarke's role in rebuilding Pakistan's cricketing reputation that is equally intriguing. He embarks on the task with the outspoken support of the ICC's president, Sharad Pawar, India's agriculture minister, who said: "We have stressed, without any comment on the present case, that we will not tolerate any form of corruption in cricket and that we will work tirelessly to root out those who have acted in a way which brings cricket into disrepute."The future of our great sport depends on the public maintaining their confidence in the games they are watching. We owe it to every player, administrator, every cricket lover to win this battle against a very small minority who may wish to corrupt this game. The matter of integrity is non-negotiable."Pakistan's chairman, Ijaz Butt, who was forced by Clarke last month to make a public retraction after an unsubstantiated outburst that England players were also rumoured to be involved in match-rigging, must now prove Pakistan's zero tolerance of corruption by implementing a raft of measures within the 30-day deadline. These include:• A competency-based education programme for all registered players.• A proper, accountable and robust disciplinary process for the sport.• A deterrent and detection process to protect the game from corrupt elements, whether it be players, officials, agents or any other individual.• A domestic anti-corruption code which mirrors the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.The ICC's discontent was also directed at the Pakistan board under Butt's leadership as it insisted upon greater support for anti-corruption investigations and by implication implied that the board must desist from kneejerk nationalistic responses if one of its players was under suspicion.The ICC warned the Pakistan board that it must "desist from taking any actions which might suggest a conflict of interest with regards to allegations that are the subject of disciplinary proceedings."It also instructed Pakistan to "desist from making public comments and disclosing confidential information which undermine the integrity, reputation and image of the game and/or any ongoing disciplinary or criminal investigation/proceedings."There was also a clear call to any Pakistan players who might be caught up in match-fixing to provide confidential evidence to the ACSU in return for a lesser sentence. "Any player who comes forward and in that process incriminates himself could, under the 'Substantial Assistance' provisions of the Anti-Corruption Code, seek to use his co-operation as a mitigating factor in the consideration of appropriate sanctions," the statement said.Clarke's Pakistan Task Force was originally constituted to ease Pakistan's return to staging home Tests following the terrorist attack on buses carrying the Sri Lankan team and match officials to the Lahore Test in March last year.Its mandate has now been extended. It has been empowered to ensure that the ICC's demands are implemented as well as a wider power to "help PCB to carry out any reforms which may be deemed necessary to restore confidence in the administration of the game in Pakistan."The ICC board warned: "If the PCB fails to carry out the above to the satisfaction of the Board – in consultation with the Pakistan Task Team – in the next 30 days, the Board will consider what further action (including, if appropriate, sanctions) is required."Clarke must now work on the Pakistan Task Team alongside a long-time adversary, the president of Zimbabwe cricket Peter Chingoka. Chingoka's presence was regarded by the Labour government as an obstacle to the normalisation of sporting relations with Zimbabwe, a stance that has yet to be softened by the Con-Lib coalition.But Chingoka has experienced the work of an ICC task force from the other side, and as it eventually led to the return of Zimbabwe to international cricket next year, he tends to think rather well of the system. His involvement therefore could well have its merits.Pakistan cricket betting scandalPakistan cricket teamEngland cricket teamCricketDavid Hoppsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Titans' Vince Young having surgery on right thumb Vince Young is getting his right thumb repaired the Titans quarterback has announced on Twitter. Young was placed on injured reserve last week, ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |