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Players wary of ICC corruption probe - Watson
Australian allrounder Shane Watson believes players are growing increasingly suspicious of whether the ICC wants to expose the full extent of corruption in the game, fearing the truth could kill cricket, reports said on Thursday.
Watson said he was concerned over the lack of breakthroughs made by the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit, and has called for it to make public all of its investigations for transparency.
Britain's News of the World newspaper has alleged that Mazhar Majeed, an agent for several Pakistan players, took £150 000 to arrange for deliberate no-balls to be bowled at precise points in last week's test match against England.
Cricket's governing body is investigating and has promised "prompt and decisive action" if the "spot-fixing" allegations linked to betting rings made by the newspaper are proven.
But Watson has his doubts as to whether the ICC wants to probe too deeply into the scandal for fear of what it might uncover.
"I don't think the ICC want to get to the bottom of it, because it could run so deep, but now it is in the public, now everyone knows about it they have to act, they can't cover it up," Watson told The Sydney Morning Herald.
"All the other stuff the ICC anti-corruption unit had in their pipeline, they've got to bring that to the surface."
Watson and other Australian cricketers, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin say they were all targeted by the same suspected illegal Indian bookmaker during last year's Ashes series in England.
Majeed, who was arrested and later bailed, also reportedly boasted that he earned $1.3 million for fixing January's Sydney test between Australia and Pakistan, when the visitors threw away a commanding position.
TRUTH COULD RUIN CRICKET
Watson said the ugly truth could ruin cricket.
"Yes, it could... what is happening already is ruining the game," he told the Herald.
"What happened during the Sydney test, which is one of the most special moments of my career, to have that talked about being tainted is very sad, and most probably for the people at the game as well.
"These are the reasons the ICC has to really step in and totally get on top of this.
"They've known these things could have been going on, that's why the anti-corruption unit was set up, they've waited for a newspaper to bring it to light.
"There's no doubt when things change in a game, people will start thinking: 'Is that just how the game panned out or is it because people might have been paid in different ways to change the direction of the game?'
"One thing we definitely don't need is what's going on, because it is horrific for the game."
One-day opening batsman David Warner is the latest Australian cricketer to come forward and say that he was approached by suspected bookmakers, while he was playing for New South Wales in the Champions League in India last season.
Former Australian captain Mark Taylor said he also received regular suspicious phone calls on tour from strangers -- often posing as media -- who wanted information on matches.
"I'd get phone calls from various people during my career asking
for information about a game, but you'd keep the conversation short
and thank them very much for their support," Taylor told The Daily
Telegraph.
