At the end of a month which has firmly established the nexus between cricket and greed, the International Cricket Council chose on the weekend not to take the money and run. The ICC settled for the World Sports Group because it felt it was surer of getting its money from Murdoch than from the fledgling Indian network, and because it was more established in sports broadcasting.
Cricket has enough trouble at the moment as it is.
This leaves open the possibility that Murdoch can sell the TV rights on to Channel 9, but it also leaves open the prospect that he will keep them for his pay network, Foxtel. Pakistan's initially strident objection died away at an executive board meeting in Paris at the weekend. Condon, who has a distinguished record, reportedly satisfied himself that cricket was earnest in its desire to clean up its act, and was prepared to devote resources to it. His first assignment will be Murdoch's News of the World tapes in which the disgraced former Pakistan captain Salim Malik details the means and methods of match fixing. The tapes have been given to him, as well as the Australian and Pakistan boards.