NAKED TRUTH OF MATCH FIXING IN CRICKET
Match fixing and spot fixing have become a serious issue in Cricket all over the world and Sri Lanka is no exception in this negative trend. It has been highly contagious since of late so that no country is spared of this tormentor of the game in the present context. International Cricket Council (ICC) has taken a tough stand on this menacing problem which has negatively impacted the spirit of the game. In fact, this scandal of match fixing or spot fixing has correlations to the bookie industry which is fast emerging globally, engulfing almost the entirety of the world of sports. But, the game of Cricket stands out prominently with more prospects for betting in this ugly development. In Cricket, most of the punters are believed to be from the Indian sub-continent especially India where the most popular game is undoubtedly the Cricket so is in the region. Unlike Sri Lanka, Cricket is a fully-fledged industry in India and betting is very much a part of it. Even Pakistanis are known for notoriety in match fixing for money. What they don’t understand is that they grossly betray their motherland at the cost of insatiable greed for money.
Match fixing Vs Spot fixing
In definition, the match fixing denotes orchestrating or manipulating the final outcome of a match towards a favoured team by buying over the opponent. This kills the sportsmanship and spirit of the game in broad daylight. However, so-called spot fixing would cause no harm of such magnitude or no reason to change the results of a game. This activity is merely for the punters who indulge in betting. Nevertheless, it involves not only players but umpires and match officials as well. Betting can be on anything such as nature of the pitch, weather conditions, selection of the final team, the changes in the batting order, the changes in bowling spells, possible scores of teams, number of sixes and boundaries, who would hit most number of sixes, no balls and wide balls, on-field behaviours of players and umpires to name a few. To shed more light on behaviours, the punters would bet for insignificant occurrences on field such as a particular bowler would tie shoe laces after 4th delivery of tenth over or the head umpire would remove his hat during 40th over for instance. Obviously, a good portion of gambled money goes to the players and umpires. How can you think that a player would not fall prey to this trap, to earn an extra buck just by tying the shoe laces at a predetermined stage of the match? This is the naked truth behind spot fixing.
Sri Lankan reaction to the corrupt practice
In fact, the last decades marked the emergence of this corrupt practice which culminated with the advent of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. The widespread match fixing scenarios prompted ICC to establish an exclusive anti-corruption unit. This new unit is omnipotent with wide ranging powers over Cricket nations, especially full member countries. In 2012, ICC made it mandatory for full member countries to appoint an Anti-Corruption Manager directly reporting to ICC, to deal with match fixing and bring culprits to book. This new ICC ruling came into being as some of these countries did not have a proper legal framework to punish the miscreants and therefore, ICC intended to exercise its own powers over the member countries to curb corrupt activities. In 2012, Sri Lanka were to host the World Twenty/ 20 Tournament and it was necessitated to make an appointment to this effect in haste. But, SLC was fortunate to choose the right candidate in Mr. Lakshman De Silva, Former SSP of Police who assumed duties in the capacity of first ever Anti-Corruption Manager of SLC on the brink of commencement of this all important event. Immediately, he sprang into action and wasted no time in setting up a dragnet to round up corrupt players and officials. Besides, through his personal contacts, he was able to muster the support of many Government institutions to track down bookies and punters in the pavilion and sometimes at the airport itself. It was not an easy task.
Modus Operandi of Bookies
According to Mr. De Silva, the bookie agents mainly come from India. These agents were seated in the pavilion as spectators but were eternally engaged on their mobile phones. There is a split second gap between actual scene and the live telecast of a match. In actual speaking, they were privy to the on-field decisions just before it was telecast on TV so that they exploit this technical delay to attract more punters, being able to communicate such decisions to the bookies in India in advance. This is how spot fixing is taking place, stated Mr. De Silva. He further elaborated that he used to deploy his own agents, mostly ex-policemen to keep surveillance over the spectators in each block of the pavilion. If they detect any person being engaged on the phone unnecessarily for longer hours, Mr. De Silva would confront them on the spot and deported them out of the grounds. With his experience that accrued over the years in office, he was able to skillfully identify those bookie agents in ensued years to the ire of bookies in India. On the other hand, match fixing is a secret affair which is made outside the grounds much before the commencement of a match. It involves so many stake holders who are party to a match. When this hunt hyped, one Indian media channel trapped three local up and coming umpires where their conversations on mobile phones were recorded and exposed to the general public, prompting SLC to convene a board of inquiry. This ended an illustrious career of at least one umpire at the end. Later, it was revealed that some interested media institution in India craftily avenged Sri Lankan officialdom to prove that they were equally corrupt.
Situation in Sri Lankan on corrupt practices
During last five years, ICC began to focus more on Sri Lankan theatre of Cricket based on the information provided by their own agents and the local counterpart. A number of past Cricketers were implicated in corrupt acts including legendary Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda De Silva, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Lokuhettige to name a few. Jayananda Warnaweera, ex- Test player and former Stadium Manager of Galle International Cricket Grounds was banned from holding any office for three years as he failed to testify before an inquiring panel appointed by ICC. In the absence of enacted laws in Sri Lanka to try miscreants in courts, in all these instances, the past players were charged under the ICC code of conduct which Sri Lanka is legally bound to honor, being a full member of ICC. However, Nuwan Zoysa challenged the decision by ICC to ban him from all Cricketing activities in courts which still persists. Dilhara Lokuhettige was exonerated by ICC after a factual reasoning by the player. In 2020, in a surprise move, former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage alleged over the local media that 2011 World Cup final was fixed. CID initiated an inquiry and Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were to be summoned to give statements to this effect. But, the inquiry was abruptly halted by the intervention of political higher-ups, arousing a plethora of suspicions. The final of 2011 World Cup, was played between India and Sri Lanka which India won comfortably. Some insiders opined that the Government had to appease 1.3 billion people in India than mere 21 million population in Sri Lanka for some reasons best known to the authorities. It is highly unlikely that what had really happened, would ever surface again. If it ever comes to light, then Sri Lankans would learn another word in Cricket jargon and it would be ‘country fixing’.
N:B- Mr. Lakshman De Silva later resigned the post in protest against SLC’s decision to split the portfolio into local and international realms to function separately. He was asked by the authorities to focus on Sri Lankan operation while International stake was to be given to one of their men. Mr. De Silva who is a man of principles smelled foul play in this development and instead opted to step down with dignity.
