They were fined by the Australian Cricket Board. In the same week that Pakistan acted against players accused of match-fixing, the Australian board appointed a special investigator to handle similar accusations against the home squad. But experience has shown that no one in cricket comes forward unless caught in the act. He would like cricket to follow the path of tennis and let players have more influence over how the game is run. The amounts of money involved are staggering.
Police suspect most betting and match-fixing is under the control of Bombay's criminal underworld.
Since the advent of private TV in India in the late 1980s, sponsorship deals for teams, matches and players have skyrocketed. Most of the money goes to the national boards that run the game, giving rise to accusations of high-level corruption, especially kickbacks for TV rights. More is spent on meetings and travel, critics say, than on promoting cricket and schooling new players. In Colombo last week, armed police were called in to keep the peace between rival factions during voting for a new cricket board that will control the richest sport in Sri Lanka. When American baseball was torn by a betting scandal 80 years ago, its leaders appointed a commissioner who cleaned up the game and restored its reputation.