Exerpt: Marvyn Westfield has pleaded guilty to accepting £6,000 to concede 12 runs in his first over in a match between Essex and Durham at Chester-le-Street in September 2009.
Mervyn Westfield has proved today that, shamefully, corruption is very much a part of English cricket.
For those of us who think that spot-fixing is a passtime of merely a few people abroad, the actions of the former Essex all-rounder has proved that this is not the case. As the first player from this country to be convicted of corruption, Westfield exposed the frailties of the anti-corruption measures in the English game, while also moving the spotlight from Pakistani cricket onto this country.
As sad as it was to witness three talented Pakistani cricketers go down for such a shameful crime, the English didn't lose much sleep over it, safe in the knowledge that such a problem has and never will exist in our game, with claims of Strauss' men as criminals in the same series being shot down as false and insignificant.
But now, those of us who have dismissed corruption as purely a sub-continental issue, now have to reconsider the integrity of the English game, and this, the ECB will lose sleep over. Granted, as far as we know, Westfield is the only English player to be involved in corruption, but even so, his lack of judgment and failure to report the approach gives spot-fixers hope of finding more vulnerable targets in England.
Questions of why have been asked repeatedly by the world of cricket ever since the Pakistani incident, but it really is astonishing that cricketers seem to be so easily influenced by foreign bodies. It goes without saying that financial gain is the prime reason for corrupt activity in the game, both for the fixer and the player, but are players' wages really so bad that illegal activity is the only way for them to gain satisfaction? Footballers would probably turn their noses up at what a domestic cricketer earns, but cricketers play their sport for a reason, a love of the game. Well that is what we thought.
Spot-fixers strike me as pretty cowardly. Their prime targets are young, vulnerable individuals who, at the end of the day, may have no choice in whether they accept the deal or not. Take Mohammed Amir for example, at 18 years of age he was one of the most talented Pakistani bowlers ever seen, only to have his career cut short by someone with frankly no interest in cricket whatsoever. Westfield's case is similar, for he was 21 back in 2009 when the match in question took place. It goes to show how vulnerable young players are, and the importance of the ability to speak up before a potentially career-ending mistake is made.
The ECB have said they are not complacent about fixing, but it must come as a shock to see English cricket in the headlines for such a shameful reason. Westfield's case must be a warning to all forms of English cricket, as it has been made clear that low profile names are just as vulnerable, if not more so, to corruption abroad. It is important that the ECB keeps an especially close eye on domestic cricket, for in the sub-continent, these matches seem to be followed eagerly for all the wrong reasons.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Cricket: Sehwag at the heart of Team India's problems
On the back of two convincing wins in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia has rubbed salt further into India's wounds by suggesting that their opponents' problems lie deeper than out on the fast, bouncy pitches down under.
An apparent rift in the Indian squad has been brought to light by a number of Australian players, who claim to have witnessed personal issues within the team. It's hard to believe that professional cricketers, not to mention some of the most talented and experienced in the world, are guilty of bickering like schoolboys and taking sides like schoolgirls, but this is apparently the case in the Indian dressing room.
Some would say it's not surprising, with team relations playing such a vital role in a team's unity and consequent performances, that India's poor displays have more complicated roots than simply poor batting displays. However, an Indian side with veterans such as Tendulkar, Dravid and Dhoni simply shouldn't let this sort of unsettled atmosphere even begin to creep into the dressing room.
What is surprising, however, is that one of these veterans is the cause of the problem. Virender Sehwag is "polarizing opinions in the Indian dressing room" according to the Australian Herald Sun newspaper. It is almost juvenile that the apparent divided opinions in the team are not a result of the team's poor displays or how they can improve, but based on who should be captain. As I said before, schoolboy bickering. Here we're taken back to the playground with jumpers for wickets and flowerbeds for boundaries, and, like a tennis ball being lost over a hedge, India are losing their dignity.
Some members of the team want Sehwag as captain, whereas some see no problem with Dhoni continuing, apart from his debatable decisions to bat first. Australian seamer Ryan Harris told the Australian press that the Indians were "fighting amongst themselves" in Sydney, and this has been backed up by keeper Brad Haddin, who believes India "break quicker than anyone in the world" and blame each other for things going wrong on the pitch.
It is therefore evident that Australia were fully aware of the tourists' issues, which could suggest a reason for keeping them in the field for almost three days in Sydney, aside from Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey's outstanding innings'. They may have more experience than a developing Australian side, but India are certainly proving to be mentally weak. Even Tendulkar can't seem to muster the mental strength to reach his personal landmark. Is he weighing out Sehwag and Dhoni's pros and cons when he's 30 short of a century? Possibly.
If India are to achieve anything in the remaining two Tests, they must get in the nets and concentrate on their individual performances before worrying about who will call the toss in the next series. Sehwag's glaring lack of runs down under is due to nothing other than personal underachievement and a pretty dyer technique, along with an inability to adapt to Australian pitches. An opening batsman failing to put runs on the board is dreaming if he wants to Captain his country, so he and Dhoni need to put an end to the arguing before it puts an end to their cricketing status.
An apparent rift in the Indian squad has been brought to light by a number of Australian players, who claim to have witnessed personal issues within the team. It's hard to believe that professional cricketers, not to mention some of the most talented and experienced in the world, are guilty of bickering like schoolboys and taking sides like schoolgirls, but this is apparently the case in the Indian dressing room.
Some would say it's not surprising, with team relations playing such a vital role in a team's unity and consequent performances, that India's poor displays have more complicated roots than simply poor batting displays. However, an Indian side with veterans such as Tendulkar, Dravid and Dhoni simply shouldn't let this sort of unsettled atmosphere even begin to creep into the dressing room.
What is surprising, however, is that one of these veterans is the cause of the problem. Virender Sehwag is "polarizing opinions in the Indian dressing room" according to the Australian Herald Sun newspaper. It is almost juvenile that the apparent divided opinions in the team are not a result of the team's poor displays or how they can improve, but based on who should be captain. As I said before, schoolboy bickering. Here we're taken back to the playground with jumpers for wickets and flowerbeds for boundaries, and, like a tennis ball being lost over a hedge, India are losing their dignity.
Some members of the team want Sehwag as captain, whereas some see no problem with Dhoni continuing, apart from his debatable decisions to bat first. Australian seamer Ryan Harris told the Australian press that the Indians were "fighting amongst themselves" in Sydney, and this has been backed up by keeper Brad Haddin, who believes India "break quicker than anyone in the world" and blame each other for things going wrong on the pitch.
It is therefore evident that Australia were fully aware of the tourists' issues, which could suggest a reason for keeping them in the field for almost three days in Sydney, aside from Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey's outstanding innings'. They may have more experience than a developing Australian side, but India are certainly proving to be mentally weak. Even Tendulkar can't seem to muster the mental strength to reach his personal landmark. Is he weighing out Sehwag and Dhoni's pros and cons when he's 30 short of a century? Possibly.
If India are to achieve anything in the remaining two Tests, they must get in the nets and concentrate on their individual performances before worrying about who will call the toss in the next series. Sehwag's glaring lack of runs down under is due to nothing other than personal underachievement and a pretty dyer technique, along with an inability to adapt to Australian pitches. An opening batsman failing to put runs on the board is dreaming if he wants to Captain his country, so he and Dhoni need to put an end to the arguing before it puts an end to their cricketing status.
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