ICC Chief Dave Richardson: Cricket is Being Targeted by Criminal Elements

The sting operation conducted by the Qatar based channel Al Jazeera has sent a wave of shock amongst the cricketing fraternity. As per the report, three England and two Australian players are involved in the scam. The matches which came under the microscope are India vs Sri Lanka (Galle, July 26-29, 2017), India vs Australia (Ranchi, March 16-20, 2017) and India vs England (Chennai, December 16-20, 2016). The ICC has assured that they are investigating the matter fully.

Dave Richardson, at an event in London, said, “Because we have hardened the target at the top level they (fixers) are now going to focus on junior levels of cricket or other avenues such as curators and groundsmen. Richardson said at a 2019 World Cup event in London. We know what the problem is. It is going to be a constant battle. We can't let up. We'll be in it for the long term.”

Richardson also said that Test matches are the most vulnerable to fixing. “It is as high a risk, but we've got the mitigating measures in place to make sure that it cannot have any impact. And, yes, it would be very surprising if international cricketers were able to be got to. And because that target has been hardened, these guys are now trying to create their own leagues, at a much lower level, and the danger is they will start going to domestic tournaments and leagues that are televised,” he said.

The ICC Chief has also watched the documentary and it has angered him to see criminal groups swanning around cricket. "We are obviously very much aware there are these types of individuals and types of criminal groups around world who are trying to get into cricket, trying to get hold of players, trying to get hold of groundsmen But it was reminder that these guys are at work and they are not going away and we've got our work cut out trying to disrupt them," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 31, 2018 07:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).