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Cricket and gambling have had an uneasy relationship almost for as long as the game has been played.
In the 19th century aristocratic patrons set up a betting tent in front of the pavilion at Lord’s before the ground’s owners, Marylebone Cricket Club, sent the bookies packing.
The allegations that the Pakistan team deliberately bowled no-balls during the fourth Test against England at Lord’s, which they lost by an innings and 225 runs — Pakistan’s heaviest Test defeat — have caused shockwaves throughout the cricket world.
But since in the 1990s the sport had to deal with several cases of alleged ‘match-fixing’ and that led the International Cricket Council (ICC) to set up an anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU).
Below are some of the most high profile ‘match-fixing’ incidents of recent times:
Mark Waugh/Shane Warne
– In 1998 it was revealed an Indian bookmaker had given money to Australian cricketers Mark Waugh and Shane Warne, in return for pitch and weather information several years earlier.
The Australia duo were fined and warned future contacts could lead to bans.
Salim Malik
– Waugh and Warne accused then Pakistan captain Malik of attempting to bribe them to lose matches.
After captaining Pakistan on their tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe, he was suspended pending an inquiry into bribery.
Initially he was cleared but, after playing his last Test in January 1999, he, along with medium-pacer Ata-ur-Rehman, became the first players to be banned for match fixing. Their punishments were eventually overturned.
Hansie Cronje
– In perhaps the most infamous case of modern cricket corruption, the late South Africa captain admitted in 2000 he’d taken bribes from bookmakers to provide information and fix matches, having initially denied charges brought against him by Indian police.
What shocked many was that Cronje had also offered non-white players in the South Africa team such as Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams money to deliberately under-perform.
Cronje died in a plane crash in 2002.
Mohammad Azharuddin
– The former India captain, one of the most stylish batsmen of his generation, had his career cut short after Cronje indicated Azharuddin was the man who’d first introduced him to bookmakers. India’s Central Bureau of Investigation said Azharuddin had contributed substantially towards the expanding bookie/player nexus in Indian cricket”.
Azharuddin was given a life ban which saw him finish his career on 99 Tests.
Marlon Samuels
– West Indies batsman Samuels was given a two-year ban in 2008 after being found guilty of “receiving money, or benefit or other reward that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute”. Indian police alleged he passed on team information to a known bookmaker.
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