Rahil khan
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SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Spectre of corruption returns to haunt international cricket.
Cricket is once again facing up to the spectre of corruption with the recent one-day international series between the West Indies and Pakistan set to be investigated over allegations of wrongdoing.
Suspicious betting patterns were identified during the low-profile five-match series, which concluded on Thursday, while unusually slow run-rates during certain overs followed by bursts of high scoring have set alarm bells ringing, according to industry experts.
Concerns have been raised, in particular, around the tied third match of the series played in St Lucia a week ago on Friday, as well as the final game, which resulted in a last-ball win for Pakistan on Thursday.
The second ODI, which saw Pakistan fail to score a run off the bat in the first five overs after being set 233 to win, will also be looked at.
One betting website reported unusually large sums of money said to run into several millions of pounds being wagered between innings on a tied result during the third ODI after the West Indies were set 230 to win from 50 overs.
Pakistan appeared to be cruising to victory, with their opponents still requiring 45 off the last 21 balls and only three wickets left. But with the tail-enders scoring at more than four times the rate of most of their team-mates, West Indies scraped the unlikeliest of ties.
Field placings for the final over, when No 11 Jason Holder and fellow tail-ender Kemar Roach crashed 14 off six balls from Wahab Riaz, will be scrutinised by officers of the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), along with a failed run-out bid off the last delivery
Television commentator Ian Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler, said at the time: There is no way, no way, that you can convince me, whatever happens to this last ball, that Wahab Riaz and Misbah ul Haq have had this field right to the length they have been trying to execute. There is no one who can convince me of that. Totally wrong.
The fifth ODI, which saw Pakistan win by four wickets off the final ball, is also to be scrutinised. ACSU officers will also analyse patterns on spread-betting sites around the first 18 balls of the West Indies innings when only one run was scored.
There were suspicious betting patterns on a betting exchange, said betting expert Ed Hawkins, the author of Bookie, Gambler, Fixer, Spy. A suspicious pattern, simply, is a flood of money wagered on an outcome just before it happens. There were some noticeable examples of this during the West Indies-Pakistan series. In the tied match, a weight of cash arrived on the tie market before Pakistans innings.
Another passage of play, between the 29th and 34th overs, when experienced West Indies batsmen Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels were at the crease, will also be analysed in an effort to understand why just two runs were scored from five overs before 16 were hit off the 35th over.
ACSU investigators, who have been criticised in the past for failing to root out deep-seated corruption in cricket, will analyse betting patterns around those overs amid concerns that anyone with prior knowledge could have made a certain profit in the market for run predictions, which are usually based on totals in five-over brackets.
The same process will occur for the second ODI.
If I was presented with this level of information, I would want this series investigated, said ECB information manager Chris Watts, who is responsible for anti-corruption in domestic cricket in England. There are some classic signs [of wrong doing].
In May 2008, Samuels was suspended for two years. The West Indies Board said he had received money, benefit or other reward which could bring him or the game into disrepute. They looked into charges that Samuels had passed on team information to a bookmaker during a one-day series in India in January 2007, which he denied.
Key to any investigation will be to establish a link between illegal bookmakers, normally working on behalf of billionaire businessmen in India or the Middle East, and the players. The ACSU have the power to access a players bank records and analyse mobile phone data. Deleted text messages can be accessed through improved data retrieval methods. Players know we are on the look-out for wrongdoing, but they also know its like looking for a needle in a haystack, said an ICC source.
The ICC and their constituent governing bodies have introduced education programmes in recent years to warn players of the dangers of getting involved with the murky underworld of black-market betting and reminding them of the potential punishments if they are caught. The ECB have looked to identify so-called court-siders at county games who have the opportunity to interact with players, potentially garnering information about pitch conditions and teams.
Strict limits on the processing of mobile data at county grounds have also been implemented in an effort to stop court-siders passing real-time information on to bookies. Last week, two individuals were ejected from the T20 game between Northants and Somerset at Wantage Road after being caught by ECB anti-corruption officials phoning live commentary to the sub-continent.
The nine-second time delay between live action and the TV broadcast in India is enough for market manipulation. The ECB say there have been 17 incidents this season, with 14 individuals removed from 13 different county grounds and they are putting pressure on broadcasters to reduce the gap between real-time action and when it is broadcast live.
West Indies v Pakistan ODI series to be investigated for betting corruption | Mail Online
Cricket is once again facing up to the spectre of corruption with the recent one-day international series between the West Indies and Pakistan set to be investigated over allegations of wrongdoing.
Suspicious betting patterns were identified during the low-profile five-match series, which concluded on Thursday, while unusually slow run-rates during certain overs followed by bursts of high scoring have set alarm bells ringing, according to industry experts.
Concerns have been raised, in particular, around the tied third match of the series played in St Lucia a week ago on Friday, as well as the final game, which resulted in a last-ball win for Pakistan on Thursday.
The second ODI, which saw Pakistan fail to score a run off the bat in the first five overs after being set 233 to win, will also be looked at.
One betting website reported unusually large sums of money said to run into several millions of pounds being wagered between innings on a tied result during the third ODI after the West Indies were set 230 to win from 50 overs.
Pakistan appeared to be cruising to victory, with their opponents still requiring 45 off the last 21 balls and only three wickets left. But with the tail-enders scoring at more than four times the rate of most of their team-mates, West Indies scraped the unlikeliest of ties.
Field placings for the final over, when No 11 Jason Holder and fellow tail-ender Kemar Roach crashed 14 off six balls from Wahab Riaz, will be scrutinised by officers of the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), along with a failed run-out bid off the last delivery
Television commentator Ian Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler, said at the time: There is no way, no way, that you can convince me, whatever happens to this last ball, that Wahab Riaz and Misbah ul Haq have had this field right to the length they have been trying to execute. There is no one who can convince me of that. Totally wrong.
The fifth ODI, which saw Pakistan win by four wickets off the final ball, is also to be scrutinised. ACSU officers will also analyse patterns on spread-betting sites around the first 18 balls of the West Indies innings when only one run was scored.
There were suspicious betting patterns on a betting exchange, said betting expert Ed Hawkins, the author of Bookie, Gambler, Fixer, Spy. A suspicious pattern, simply, is a flood of money wagered on an outcome just before it happens. There were some noticeable examples of this during the West Indies-Pakistan series. In the tied match, a weight of cash arrived on the tie market before Pakistans innings.
Another passage of play, between the 29th and 34th overs, when experienced West Indies batsmen Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels were at the crease, will also be analysed in an effort to understand why just two runs were scored from five overs before 16 were hit off the 35th over.
ACSU investigators, who have been criticised in the past for failing to root out deep-seated corruption in cricket, will analyse betting patterns around those overs amid concerns that anyone with prior knowledge could have made a certain profit in the market for run predictions, which are usually based on totals in five-over brackets.
The same process will occur for the second ODI.
If I was presented with this level of information, I would want this series investigated, said ECB information manager Chris Watts, who is responsible for anti-corruption in domestic cricket in England. There are some classic signs [of wrong doing].
In May 2008, Samuels was suspended for two years. The West Indies Board said he had received money, benefit or other reward which could bring him or the game into disrepute. They looked into charges that Samuels had passed on team information to a bookmaker during a one-day series in India in January 2007, which he denied.
Key to any investigation will be to establish a link between illegal bookmakers, normally working on behalf of billionaire businessmen in India or the Middle East, and the players. The ACSU have the power to access a players bank records and analyse mobile phone data. Deleted text messages can be accessed through improved data retrieval methods. Players know we are on the look-out for wrongdoing, but they also know its like looking for a needle in a haystack, said an ICC source.
The ICC and their constituent governing bodies have introduced education programmes in recent years to warn players of the dangers of getting involved with the murky underworld of black-market betting and reminding them of the potential punishments if they are caught. The ECB have looked to identify so-called court-siders at county games who have the opportunity to interact with players, potentially garnering information about pitch conditions and teams.
Strict limits on the processing of mobile data at county grounds have also been implemented in an effort to stop court-siders passing real-time information on to bookies. Last week, two individuals were ejected from the T20 game between Northants and Somerset at Wantage Road after being caught by ECB anti-corruption officials phoning live commentary to the sub-continent.
The nine-second time delay between live action and the TV broadcast in India is enough for market manipulation. The ECB say there have been 17 incidents this season, with 14 individuals removed from 13 different county grounds and they are putting pressure on broadcasters to reduce the gap between real-time action and when it is broadcast live.
West Indies v Pakistan ODI series to be investigated for betting corruption | Mail Online
And if that wasn't enough your PCB chairman was threatening England in return, talk about chori and upar se seenajori!
