“Corruptors Are Constantly Looking For A Route”: Outgoing ICC Anti-Corruption Chief’s Big Claim

Elite cricket is mostly “safe and clean” but outgoing ICC Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) chief Alex Marshall feels that potential corruptors are eyeing entry through local T20 leagues which are outside global body’s ambit managed by respective boards of member nations. The former British cop didn’t specify which particular local leagues or which member nation he was referring to. “I am confident that the cricket you watch is safe and clean,” Marshall told ESPN Cricinfo.

“But I am also absolutely sure that corruptors are constantly looking for a route into the game, particularly in badly-run lower-level franchise leagues. The threat to the game is corruptors won’t go away while there is always money to be made and they will look for weakness in the system to get in.” Marshall said that he is happy to find that more and more players are reporting corrupt approaches with the ICC ACU, ensuring them to keep the game clean.

“I am proud of the significant increase in trust from players who now report approaches to us frequently whereas there was a time when they lacked confidence in confidentiality and the action that will be taken,” Marshall said.

“They have now seen corruptors being disrupted, named, banned when they get involved in cricket. And the education we now do with players shows them who the corruptors are, what their methods are, so everyone is much better equipped and protected to keep corruption away from the game.” During his seven years in ICC, some of the significant milestones of ICC ACU under Marshall would be to ensure punishment for former Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan, who didn’t report a corrupt approach by Indian bookie Deepak Aggarwal and former Zimbabwe skipper late Heath Streak.

One thing that gave Marshall satisfaction was weeding out corruption from Sri Lankan cricket with the help of local authorities with multiple cases of former international and domestic players being involved in alleged shady dealings.

“Sri Lanka turned out to be a good news story because there were serious issues which were addressed locally and with ICC,” he said. “Now with the legislation and stronger measures Sri Lanka is in a much better place to keep the corruptors away.”