Patrick Smith dances around accusations of racism:
Quick-fire ridicule just does not cut it
THIS was so predictable. So patronising. So xenophobic.
The people involved would say it was not racist, but goodness gracious, it danced all around it.
Australia is right to be confident that its players are not involved in fixing. But that confidence should be exemplified not in quick-fire ridicule with its unintended undercurrent of racism - well, Asians would, wouldn't they - but a rigorous and unrelenting determination to prove the slightest suggestion of corruption to be wrong.
Patrick was probably disappointed to read:
A SENIOR corruption investigator for the International Cricket Council has told a London criminal trial that there is no evidence to back claims aired this week that the Australian cricket team were the world's leaders at rigging cricket matches.
But who needs the word of a mere senior corruption investigator for the International Cricket Council, when you've got whispers:
Allegations need to be treated with care
Doubtless, Australian cricket enthusiasts were alarmed to hear that their champions allegedly count among the biggest gamblers and fixers in the game. Bear in mind that these are the words of a braggart immersed in dubious activities. It is not much to set against the reputation of long-standing and hitherto unblemished cricketers (give or take the odd burst on the field and youthful excess). At such times all a reporter can contribute is to confirm that no whisper of any current Australian involvement in anything untoward has been heard.
I don't think the Aussies would be involved in spot fixing etc on the scale that has been uncovered. But some sports people love a bet and are dumb enough to try (AFL's Heath Shaw, Dean Wallis, etc).
So would there be a small chance of involvement... gotta find them first though.
With Patrick a bit on this... the bloke who said Aussies were fixers is not credible (says Marsh), but credible enough to dip his own countrymen in. Double standard.
And Aussies are 'not capable of cheating' (betting/fixing etc)? Yeah... just ask the Ashes team of 1981. Yes times have changed, and players better rewarded, but dont think it 'impossible'.
Posted by: TKYC | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 08:57 AM
'Greed knocks on everyone's door, it doesn't just leave Australia alone.'
Nice line from Rodney Hogg rubbishing AB's protestations.
Posted by: lou | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 09:20 AM
There is no reason to think Australians wouldn't spot-fix if the right offer was made. But it would need to be a hell of an offer. Counting various contracts, endorsements, future media or coaching deals and so forth, an established 30 year old Australian cricketer would have projected earnings somewhere in the range of $10-30m. Around 20 times what the Pakistani cricketers might make. Based on the figures quoted by Majeed, split between half a dozen cricketers, they'd be risking their career for a 10-20% pay rise. Pretty unlikely, and not at all similar to doubling or quadrupling your annual income as those in the dock have.
Posted by: Russ | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 10:03 AM
so we take the word of a braggart when it concerns the pakis but not Aussies.
We investigate it when it involves pakis but not Aussies.
hmmm
Posted by: The Don has risen | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 10:25 AM
We are not investigating it; the ICC is.
Posted by: Tony | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 10:51 AM
wow
Posted by: The Don has risen | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 11:02 AM
Up yer bracket!
Posted by: Tony | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 01:00 PM
Don, can you at least look at the context of it.
Someone was trying to pose as a fixer to get a scoop on a Pakistani and said words to the effect of "everyone is doing it, the Aussies are the worst!"
I hardly think what the undercover journalist says to someone he is trying to entrap is beyond reproach, or in this case even likely to be true.
The journalist was talking to a Pakistani cricketer who promised to have 6 players under his control and tried to get a deposit out of the supposed fixer. He could have just been trying to get the money and run, but no one is accusing any Australian of that.
Posted by: ughface | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 01:00 PM
Fascinating article. Confirms one of my suspicions for some time: that Afridi quit the captaincy because he was jack of having the players lose under him, rather than the spurious reasons he cited.
Posted by: Russ | Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 01:23 PM
The story about the players trying to get rid of Afridi was going around about two years ago, wasn't it?
Posted by: Lou | Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:22 AM
I hadn't heard it about Afridi, Younis Khan had the same problem before him (and the same reputation for incorruptibility).
Posted by: Russ | Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 08:53 AM
when I wrote wow I should have included the irony buzzer.
ughface nothing you have said negates what I said.
Posted by: The Don has risen | Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 09:57 AM
Maybe it was Younis that I was thinking of. There was a match in the UAE a couple of years ago which seemed to be dodgy, when that young kid Amir nearly got them over the line against New Zealand.
Posted by: Lou | Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:45 AM