Cricket: Fixing a $150m problem

Cricketers have to surrender mobile phones when they are playing first-class cricket - and there are 150 million good reasons for doing so.

On average, cricket attracts betting of US$150 million a day - especially on the Indian sub-continent - and players can be targeted by those seeking to influence results. Some of that influence can be exerted through mobile phones so cricketers readily surrender theirs before a match starts.

The crooks start working on cricketers young so the anti-corruption brigade do too. That's why the International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), led by chief investigator Ravi Sawani, to come to the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

They are capturing future internationals young, making sure they are aware of and armed against those who would seek to use them to profit.

The ACSU has lectured the teams before the tournament, educating the next generation's elite on corruption.

New Zealand coach Chris Kuggeleijn says Sawani made it clear that once a player is involved in any form of corruption, like match-fixing or spot betting on matches, it's a difficult downward spiral to avoid.

"The thing that was made clear is that it is still going on, it hasn't been stamped out ... and it's pretty scary. Fixers take you out for tea, they talk to you, always say 'hello' and become your friend. It might even take them a year to fully build the relationship. They're just after little snippets of information and it's things within a match to bet on rather than full-blown match-fixing.

"Once you do something you're buggered," says Kuggeleijn. "That's because someone across the road will be taking a photo of you having a drink with the match-fixer or they'll snap you taking something off him. Then you can't get out."

The tricky part is that it is not always a match result that is fixed. More often than not, it is small parts within the game - often as minor as how many players wear caps on to the field. Less detectable measures, such as those mentioned in the factbox, enable bookmakers and gamblers to remain relatively camouflaged.

It also makes allegations (like Pakistan collapsing against Australia for money in the second test at Sydney) a flimsy premise, given the attention drawn to such a drastic capitulation.

ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald says deliberate failure on the part of players, due to betting on peripheral aspects of the game, is the hardest corruption to stamp out.

"Match-fixing is only part of it. Spot betting is an area we work hard to monitor. Players will be educated on that issue too."

Fitzgerald says there is a constant need to be vigilant: "Potential corruptors look for vulnerable players and officials to provide inside information or encourage them to under-perform.

"The ICC approach includes prevention through education and enforcement of minimum standards and discipline in the dressing rooms; the gathering of intelligence; the investigation of reported breaches or approaches; and, where appropriate, disciplinary procedures.

"Hopefully, the ACSU's presence will make players aware of the potential dangers.

"Those involved in illegal betting like to 'groom' players from an early age, so quite a long way back, we decided to extend our education programme to the Under-19 World Cup."

Black Cap Ross Taylor was lectured by the ACSU in 2002 when he captained New Zealand at the same event, also at home. Has it helped in the long term?

"Obviously what to look out for doesn't apply so much at that [under-19] level but a number of those players were always going to represent their countries at the top level," says Taylor.

"I have never been approached but it was good to know the expectations. When I have met the ICC on the issue with the Black Caps at the World Cup and with the Bangalore Royal Challengers ahead of the IPL [Indian Premier League], it wasn't as daunting."

As a result of high-profile match-fixing in recent years, one thing that has changed is the surrendering of mobile phones before provincial and international games.

Players generally give them to a team manager, a scenario which has evoked bemusement in the past when it was discovered those such as Shane Warne, perhaps unsurprisingly, had something in the vicinity of 10 phones on the go.

"Once the toss has been done, [Black Caps manager] Dave Currie takes them away and you pick them up at the end of the day," says Taylor.

In an age where gambling can resort to betting on which of two raindrops reaches the bottom of a wall first, it comes as no surprise an average of US$150 million a day is wagered on cricket.

"Our players came away pretty gobsmacked by that fact, given our guys are kids who just want to try to play cricket well," says Kuggeleijn.

Potential spot bets

Subtle ways cricket matches can be influenced for spot betting:

* Bowling at least a specified number of wides/no-balls in a spell.
* Scoring a certain number of runs in an over or batting out a maiden over.
* Keeping on an expensive bowler for an extended spell.
* Having an opening batsman get out cheaply when he's paired with his partner as a bet option.
* Adjusting fields to change scoring patterns (for example, bringing up long on/off or removing sweepers on the off/legside).
* Ensuring a certain number of players wear caps on to the field.
* Getting a wicketkeeper to take the bails off at least a certain number of times in an innings.
* Opening the bowling with a spinner.
* Calling an early declaration of an innings or doing it within a specified range.