Cricket: Clean-up on track for World Cup

By RICHARD BOOCK

Cricket's crime-busting cop Sir Paul Condon believes malpractice will be eradicated from the game well before the 2003 World Cup.

The head of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit said yesterday that he was confident of cleaning up the game's soiled image before the next global tournament in South Africa.

Condon held a media briefing in Auckland to report on the unit's progress, and will present his first, confidential report to the ICC's Code of Conduct Commission at the end of April.

"We're on track to have some new recommendations in place well before the next World Cup," he said. "I've been in this role for the past six months, and in that time we've talked to a lot of people - players, umpires, groundsmen etc.

"Encouragingly, we've noticed that there's a huge groundswell of feeling that this has to be cleared up - so that the game and everyone within it can move forward."

The former head of London's Metropolitan Police Force has also briefed retired judge Sir Ian Barker and lawyer Nick Davidson, the two New Zealanders appointed by NZ Cricket to investigate claims that former captain Martin Crowe accepted money from a bookmaker.

However, he has not interviewed Crowe himself, as he said that matter was the jurisdiction of the NZC inquiry team.

"There are inquiries being conducted in India, Britain, Pakistan, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, and our unit's task is to coordinate and to assist with those investigations."

Crowe has denied claims that he accepted $US20,000 ($46,600) from Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta during the 1992 World Cup. Gupta claimed the money was for pitch, weather and team information.

Crowe has said he thought Gupta was a journalist, and broke off contact when he discovered he was a bookmaker.

Condon said it was important that a line was drawn in the sand so that there could be a perceived closure to the "whole sorry business.

"Clearly we will deal with the major allegations, but I don't think we can afford to chase shadows and rumour for ever and a day."