View Single Post
  #1  
03-02-2011
Sarish's Avatar
Sarish
Junior Member
 
: Feb 2011
: 37
:
: 10 | 0.00 Per Day
Thumbs up Australia Reaction : Claim of Anti-Corruption Unit Investigation

The Australia team have responded furiously to reports that they are being investigated by the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. Several Indian newspapers had claimed that last week's Australia match against Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad was being looked into by the ACSU for potential spot-fixing because of slow scoring by the Australian openers at the start of the innings. Brad Haddin, one of the players in question, said: "It's quite a laughable story. It's a joke. We just got off the mark a bit slowly."
The manager, Steve Bernard, was just as angry: "I'm not sure how to respond, except to say it would make a cat laugh. It's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard in my life, that a side can be nought for five after two overs and that that's suspicious. It was the silliest thing I've heard this week – and I've heard a lot of silly things since I've been here."
The ACSU is looking at all matches in this tournament as a matter of routine. The original story, released by the Press Trust of India, quoted "a source" as saying "they are taking no chances at all and all matches are under the scanner for possible indications that any spot-fixing has taken place". That much was certainly true, as it would of every match being played at this World Cup. The ICC do not comment on the affairs of the ACSU unless it has been confirmed that a match is under investigation. But there is believed to be absolutely no evidence of any guilt on the Australian team's part, other than the utter inability of Haddin and Shane Watson to score freely against Zimbabwe's opening bowlers. They made 28 from the first 10 overs, which were bowled by the parsimonious pair of Ray Price and Christopher Mpofu.
That the suggestion was made with so little supporting evidence is indicative of the times in which the tournament is taking place. After the bans given to Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, several journalists have been crying wolf in the hope of securing a scoop. Preposterous allegations have been made that the tie between India and England was also fixed, a conclusion based solely on a throwaway remark made by Shane Warne on Twitter before the game that he thought the match would be a tie. If the talk had stopped at the internet chatroom scuttlebutt that would be bad enough, but Ian Bell was asked to respond to the accusation in their press conferences. He refused to dignify the question with an answer.
And Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene is considering taking legal action against a local TV station that accused him of helping to fix his side's defeat to Pakistan last Saturday. Jayawardene was out for two as his team lost by 11 runs. His fellow middle-order batsman Tilian Samaraweera was also accused after making a painstakingly slow start to his innings of 57 from 78 balls. A feature on the Sri Lankan TV network ITN alleged that a businessman had bet about $18,000 on Pakistan and that there had been a "chorus to change the game". The presenter then remarked: "We just think Mahela and Thilan [Samaraweera] may have changed the game." Jayawardene said his lawyer was drafting a letter to "get to the bottom" of the accusation. Again, there was a distinct lack of supporting evidence provided.
These stories, all seemingly groundless, are the price the sport pays for the spot-fixing scandals that have been uncovered in the Pakistan v England Test series in 2010. Any unusual scoring patterns will now provoke ugly speculation, as well as investigation from the ACSU. Sadly, this World Cup is being played against a backdrop of suspicion and mistrust.

Source : The Guardian
__________________
I Love My India