Professional Cricketers’ Association seeks players’ help to stamp out match fixing

London, May 27(ANI): The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) fears that they will never be able to stop players from being approached by illegal bookmakers to fix games, but have called on them to try to keep the game as clean as possible.

The PCA along with the International Cricket Council (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit is relying on players to turn the temptation down.

“You can never stop people trying to subvert the game,” The Mirror quoted Ian Smith, PCA Legal Director, as saying.

“The incentive is always there to make a fast buck. The question is whether we can stop it with players turning them down and reporting it to anticorruption units,” he added.

Talking about the issue, England captain Andrew Strauss said: “If it is happening, it needs to be stamped out.”

“We’ve got a duty as players to make sure if we hear of it, or are approached, that we report it,” he added.

The subject has been bought back into the open following the arrest of Essex duo Danish Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield over match-fixing claims during a NatWest Pro40 match between Essex and Durham at the Riverside on September 5 last year.

Meanwhile, on the eve of the first Test between England and Bangladesh at Lord’s, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan revealed that he was tapped by someone he believed wanted to manipulate the result of a ODI game against Ireland in 2008.

Other incidents of match-fixing issues include former Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam raising questions over wicket keeper Kamran Akmal’s intentions when he dropped three crucial catches and missed an important run out in the Sydney Test against Australia, which Pakistan lost despite being in a commanding position. (ANI)