On March 23, 2003, I wrote my last match report, ending seven years of non-stop commentary and reports/analysis. By then, ‘match-fixing’ was inextricably embedded in the vocabulary of the cricket fan; it had become increasingly difficult to write with conviction about ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’ and ‘turning points’ while deep down inside of you, there was a voice constantly second-guessing; it was difficult to write with any honesty, let alone passion, when deep down inside of you a cynical alter ego kept going, yeah, right, like you don’t know better.
This is a true story [and knowing you guys, the comments field will fill up with speculation on the identity of the central characters. Speculate all you like, I’m not telling]:
There was once an opening batsman known as much for his impeccable technique as for his preternatural sense of the ebbs and flows, the rhythms, of Test cricket. The way he constructed an innings was both masterclass and template: the early watchfulness, the constant use of the well placed single to get away from strike and go to the other end, from where he could observe the behavior of pitch and bowler, the imperceptible change of gears and then, as the lunch interval loomed, the gradual down-shifting of gears as commentators marveled: ‘He is pulling down the shutters… he knows it is important not to give away his wicket just before the break… the onus is on him to return after the break and build his innings all over again… the man is a master of focus…’
I followed along, on radio first and later, on television, and I marveled along with the commentators, the experts. And then, years later, I heard a story — of how, when the toss went the way of his team and this opener went out to bat on the first day of a Test, a close relative would bet with not one, but several, bookies, about whether the batsman would get to 50 before lunch. Or not. ‘So he would get to 45 or so, and there would be 20 minutes to go before lunch, and he would defend like hell, and all these experts would talk about how he is downing shutters for lunch when the fact was, there was a lot of money riding on his not getting 50 before the break,’ is a paraphrase of what one of the bookies who suffered from such well-placed bets said.
That is just one story, of the dozens that come your way once you become a journalist, and gain entree into the Kabuki world of cricket.
So I stopped writing match reports. The intervening years have done nothing to lessen the belief that it was the right thing to do at the right time. [You know those match previews you write, about the best composition of the team for the morrow? What if, even as you wrote about which spinner was likely to be picked, you knew that he was a business partner of the captain? Or if you knew of the increasingly tight nexus between the agents of various players, representatives of corporate sponsors, and even some journalists who are on the payroll of the former? How much conviction can you bring to a match report on, say, a must-win game, when you notice that umpires, so prone to what the ICC calls ‘human err’, become more human in such games, and also notice that somehow, their sudden attack of human-ness seems to benefit the team under pressure to win? How straight can you keep your face while analyzing the ‘strategy’, the ‘tactical call’ a captain of a leading franchise makes in the final of a short-form tournament when, needing to up the run rate, said captain holds back the most explosive batting star in the lineup till the very end? I could go on, but you get the idea].
And then, June 23 this year, I went off this blog as well after the umpteenth post on the mess that was the IPL. Just how much of sanctimonious posturing can you take from the Pawars, the Manohars, the Srinivasans of this world? How do you keep yourself from gagging when people of that ilk talk about ‘conflict of interest’ — calculated, self-serving sound bytes eagerly seized on and amplified by a hypertensive electronic media? Lalit Modi is so crooked he doesn’t need to own a corkscrew, yes — but the cloak of ‘moral indignation’ the BCCI honchos shrouded themselves with, even as they routinely leaked what served their interests while shrilly denying information leaked by the other side, seemed as risible as a clown suit.
So how long do you write this stuff? And why would you even want to?
During this two-month sabbatical, I read a lot to the detriment of my credit card, and also re-read several books as the mood took me. One of the books I revisited was The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, which should be on any discriminating reader’s short list of the best five books on football sport, ever [on wikipedia; a sample chapter].
For those who came in late, it is the story of an American who, thanks to happenstance, discovers the abundant beauty of football, falls passionately in love, and sets out to a remote hamlet in Italy to immerse himself in the area’s ‘miracle team’ for the length of a season. It is part sports narrative, part bildungsroman, part travelog — and wholly compelling, as only a writer of Joe McGinniss’ calibre can make it.
I read it partly because I recalled, from my first reading some years back, that it was far more un-putdownable than the latest out of James Patterson’s ‘thriller factory’. I also hoped, through re-visiting the story of a team that achieved more than the sum of its parts and of a fan’s passionate immersion in sport, to rediscover something of what I had lost. Bad idea — I had forgotten, when I dug my copy of the book out of a packing case labelled ‘Sports’, dusted it off, and settled down with it, how the story ended. This is how [This first passage is a conversation the author overhears]:
“Three goals at most,” a player said.
“Yes,” another answered, “but not three to nothing.”
“No,” said a third, “we must score one.”
“But not too early,” said another, “or it looks like a minaccia” — a threat.
“But three at the most, that is agreed.” There was a murmur of concurrence. I could not be sure how many players were actively involved in this discussion, but it was at least half a dozen.
“Maybe Bari gets greedy and tries for more?”
“Don’t worry. They have been instructed also.”
“How do we score? And when?”
There’s more, but you get the idea. [Try a thought experiment: Imagine a conversation between various Pakistan players about how precisely the fix will be implemented; imagine the experienced Mohammad Asif telling his divinely talented junior that umpires sometimes don’t catch no-balls, so the trick is to be sure to transgress by a sufficient margin to compensate for official myopia].
This next passage, towards the very end of the book, describes the match played, the next afternoon, between Castel and Bari [by which point, you need to know, Castel had achieved its goal of staving off relegation, while Bari was desperate to get back into Serie B, from where it had been relegated the previous season]:
As for the match? At the opening whistle Tonino kicked the ball directly to a Bari midfielder who passed to an undefended Bari forward who shot from fifteen yards out as De Juliis, waiting until the ball was safely past him, dove in its direction. That procedure had taken less than twenty seconds.
For the next half hour the teams took turns kicking the ball out of bounds. Then a Bari player sent a long pass downfield to a teammate who was standing in front of the goal, with Luca D’Angelo behind him. Luca, who had blocked a hundred such passes during the season, jumped, but at the same time twisted his head out of the way to ensure it would not make contact with the ball. The Bari player, unimpeded, headed it directly into the net.
Two minutes before the half ended, as a coterie of Castel di Sangro players stood by watching, a Bari midfielder launched a shot from 20 yards. De Juliis gave it a friendly wave as it went by. That made three, so De Juliis knew that his work, such as it might have been, was now finished for the season.
When Joe first overhears the conversation detailing the fix, he goes ballistic, rants and raves, calls the Castel di Sangro players — to whom he is friend and mascot both — traitors. One of the players takes him aside, and explains to him that this is typical for the end of season; that owners get together to fix which team will go through and which team will not, and then orchestrate the results of the final league games accordingly. E molto complicato, Joe, the player tells him. It is complicated. You will not understand.
And then, the player says this:
“I am sorry if this makes you sad. I am sorry if this makes you angry. But I must tell you as a friend that I am sorry also that last night, you believed it was necessary for you to curse and to shout at these players. When one does not understand, Joe, that is the time for the soft voice. Or maybe better, for no voice at all.”
As I typed the above passages, I could hear in the background the breathless voice of Arnab Goswami, driving himself to his usual state of imminent apoplexy over the latest ‘spot-fixing scandal’ and, in the same breath, solving all these ills in a fashion originally invented by Lewis Carroll. Remember?
[If Charles Dodgson were writing today, this character would be based not on Queen Victoria, but fashioned on the lines of a television anchor we all know and love.]Queen of Hearts: Who’s been painting my roses red? WHO’S BEEN PAINTING MY ROSES RED? /Who dares to taint / With vulgar paint / The royal flower bed? / For painting my roses red / Someone will lose his head.
Card Painter: Oh please, your majesty, please! It’s all his fault!
Card Painter: Not me, your grace! The ace, the ace!
Queen of Hearts: You?
Card Painter: No, two!
Queen of Hearts: The two, you say?
Card Painter: Not me! The three!
Queen of Hearts: That’s enough! Off with their heads!
But I digress. A book by a fan, about discovering and immersing himself in the passion that pure sport can provide, proved to be not such a good choice after all. It began with Joe McGinniss being mesmerized by the innocence, the purity, the beauty of sport; it ended with a terrible loss of innocence.
What of us cricket fans? Those who spent the late eighties and nineties [here’s a timeline] pretending that the portents we were seeing were figments of our imagination? Those of us who lost our collective innocence in 2000, as we followed court proceedings in far off South Africa, unable even to echo the plaintive wail of the young White Sox fan to ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson? [That fan’s wail was the peg for this column I wrote at the height of the match-fixing furor].
We’ve spent two decades since then, willy nilly suspending our disbelief [Think of this: During this same period, many fine cricket writers, mostly from Cricinfo, dropped out of sight, reinvented themselves, and/or discovered other areas to focus on. Why do you suppose that happened?]. That is easy enough to do for the three hours a Ram Gopal Varma movie takes; it is far harder to do over two decades of following international cricket — but we fans are capable of anything; we managed even that feat.
Thanks to the miracles of modern medicine, it is now possible to be a serial virgin. Innocence, not so much — you can lose it just once, and we’ve been there, done that, and worn that T-shirt to tatters.
Maybe it is time for no voice at all?
PostScript: I’d thought of making today’s post about the ongoing spot-fixing controversy — but for the third day in succession, the noise-to-signal ratio remains hugely weighted towards the former. I plan on giving it a day or so more for the dust to settle, before figuring out what I have to say on this. If anything. Meanwhile, appreciate your thoughts. And discovered links. And anything else apropos.
109 comments
No sir, please tell me you just did not accuse SRT of doing something he shouldn’t have. In all delusion that I am having with this match-fixing issue, SRT and likes or Dravid, Kumble are my only beacon of hope in the cricketing world. I’d have to give up cricket in entirety, if what you allege is true. 🙁
The point I’m making, guys, is — it is increasingly difficult to figure out what is for real, and what is fixed, any more. Has been for a long time. This is a perfect example — if we keep the names out of it and merely talk of an instance of that kind, what is the first thought that comes to mind?
See — that is the essential sadness of what has happened to this sport. We are forced increasingly to clutch at straws that may, or may not, be attached to an idol.
Understood. Very sad to see the game I love to stoop to this level.
AaruC, did you not notice “opening TEST batsman”? think about another man with “impeccable technique”…:-))
Opening Batsman with impeccable techniques is SMG and his ‘mama’ Madhav Mantri used to bet on him. This is a known ‘fact’ / ‘rumor’ for all who grew up in 80s.
Prem has given enough hints about listening on radio and then on TV…etc.
SMG continues his innuendoes ,in the recent IPL he implied that Dravid should have walked when SRT claimed a catch,the same SMG threw a tantrum in Australia and we almost forefeited a match.he also never came out on the forex found in his lockers
It cannot be SRT. He is talking of test match. SRK does not open in test matches.
He is talking of his SRT’s mentor SG
A wonderful read, but I want to echo AaruC. Not him, anyone but him. Say it ain’t so Prem.
See response above, Saurabh. 🙂 I’m not saying it is so, or even that it isn’t. I’m saying, increasingly, these questions keep coming up all the time and when they do and you stifle them, it becomes very difficult to write a piece you are convinced about.
yeah, get your point. It’s just that the even the thought of people like SRT, Dravid, Kumble, VVS or Ganguly being involved is a bit too much to take. Not covered cricket for as long as you or as closely and analytically as you (or as well as you for that matter!), thus the ‘fan’ aspect still lingers.
p.s: @ Gradwolf: 🙂 but i dont think i chose the gravatar.
Why should we be surprised if any of the above are tainted?They are all professional players,and the sorry state is everyone deemed innocent till proven guilty.As fans lets enjoy their exploits and if any scam erupts take the momentary dissapointment in the stride.The sport is above all.
Same happenned with Tiger Woods,he was an icon
Tiger Woods did not fix a match. Not that we know of. His personal life shouldn’t be a concern to genuine fans.
@Deepak,
Icons are supposed to be setting good examples,with Tiger my view was that when it happened whether personal or professional-it was momentarily disappointing ,but we can’t leave the sport for that,if our cricketing icons are tainted or in a scam,let’s get over it,the sport is bigger.
Tiger’s professional,personal and private life will be a concern as a role model,and to his sponsors (Many of them walked off)There is a very thin line when you are in the limelight.
What a splendid way to resume after a two-month break! Totally enjoyed reading it and even more so, the snippets from the Football games. While it’s disappointing/disgusting that games (or results) are forced and it’s been part of sporting history for a long while, cricket probably its latest victim. Our sporting heroes are as gullible as anyone else and with their success, such avenues only get easier! I can only wish the fixing-bit goes away from the game, but then WTH, I’ll still enjoy a cover drive as it’s played and a nice out-swinger as it’s bowled. There are only legal deliveries to be enjoyed in the game, innit?
Wonderfully written, and thanks for coming out and writing this.
PS
On a lighter note, the gravatars for saurabh and you is so appropriate in their expressions(as per the comments!)!
Passionate post.On a slightly tangential note,reminds me of this talk by P.Sainath (http://bit.ly/5v4LF1).Hear it and you will ask if this is a Matrix-like world we inhabit. And folks,have no worries about Him and the Pantheon of Five, have faith. Welcome back,by the way!
Guys,
Prem ain’t giving character certificates to anyone. Why can’t we live with that? And if a Test match (or parts/spots of it) in Lords can be fixed, why do we keep hoping that the tamashaa IPL is free from any taint? I am now veering round to the fact that almost all of IPL is fixed. What better could we have expected of the jokers running that? I think Tejus Sawjiani said it best in his tweets: http://twitter.com/tejus_sawjiani/status/22533442090 and http://twitter.com/tejus_sawjiani/status/22533747918
Nice post…..long awaited! I am of course not smart enough to figure whether the SRT inference is being drawn out from 🙁
From here
“How straight can you keep your face while analyzing the ‘strategy’, the ‘tactical call’ a captain of a leading franchise makes in the final of a short-form tournament when, needing to up the run rate, said captain holds back the most explosive batting star in the lineup till the very end?”
See the IPL2010 finals scorecard.
@saurabh, @aaruC –
” followed along, on radio first and later, on television, and I marveled along with the commentators, the experts. And then, years later, I heard a story — of how, when the toss went the way of his team and this opener went out to bat on the first day of a Test”
Doesn’t look like a reference to Sachin, to me. 😉
btw, great read Prem. I have disagreed with you at times in the past. However, I’ll tell you this. You write from the heart. There is no other cricket writer around who is as honest, to-the-point and no-holds-barred wrt the topic he/she is commenting on. Thank you. 🙂
the reference I was speaking of (and i guess AaruC was as well) is about a captain of a leading franchise, who in the final of a short-form tournament (which I took to mean IPL 2010) holds back his most explosive batsman when required run-rate is shooting up (said batsman being Kieron Pollard).
My faith tells me SRT has always been an average captain at best, and he just goofed up, though I remember Ravi Shastri not quizzing him on that decision in the post-match presentation. Incidentally i had tweeted about that here: http://bit.ly/aVAqND, but just meant it as a general observation and thought the decision was as worst stupid. still do not (or cannot) think that SRT gave anything less than 100%.
Being a die hard cricket fan and more a Sachin fan, it kept me wondering as well why pollard was not sent ahead but looking closely at the game of pollard one can make out he is a poor player of quality spin, which was visible in world cup as well. I believe the master’s plan was to keep panick in the opposition with pollard sitting and coming in 16th or 17th over with around 45 runs to get. We all know pollard can do that with faster bowlers. It did not work out bcoz Duminy could not contribute. And Duminy being an excellent player of spin and an explosive player at the end no doubt would have scored 12 runs an over ideally. It did not work hence the speculations. But I seriously believe the Master did it right it just didn,t click. One more thing if Pollard came in 14th and got out in 17th which usually he does(On an average he plays only 3 overs in match either the last 3 or gets out) then the match was over. He had to come to finish the match with 50 runs to get not 80 odd to get. The Master had planned it right it just didn’t click
Prem I have heard this story as well..one keeps on hearing this stuff from time to time but I always dismissed it as rumors when something like this happens it shakes the faith of everyone…and I dont know what to say about Mohammad Aamir..what a story ..check link : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/exclusive-the-kid-in-the-eye-of-a-storm-2064889.html
I hope he does not have to stop playing cricket because of this
i hope to god he does. and so does everybody else involved. but after reading this post, that would mean around 60% of everybody who’s names we know, so i guess we’ll have to do with those who have been caught already. ban them for life, even from club cricket.
You have not mentioned the instance when the richest cricket board agrees to a WWF kind of series with its neiibhour in a country which has played the first ever international cricket match but played very little in the next 150 years.
The series there was a precursor to IPL.
My point is whi this breast beating on player’s conduct when the whole calender and tournaments are fixed
To paraphrase one of our former prime ministers corruption is a global phenomenon. Sports and cricket is also part of the globe
Everyone has his/her price”
The opener is SMG, have heard a lot of stories from my father regarding his maternal uncle’s exploits.
And completely agree on the explosive batsman part too; imagine sending a spinner cum pinch hitter ahead of the explosive guy!
…there was once an opening batsman in Test cricket…
…first on radio and then on TV…
SRT never opened in Tests, for one. After SRT started his international cricket career, radios were long and forgotten…well almost.
So, technically, SRT can be ruled out with this example 🙂
If you might be referring to SRT’s mentor…umm..that’s a totally different issue! Does it go so far back in the past?
The reason I ask that question is – if it really does go way back into the past, then this fixing (spot, pot or whatever) is systemic and endemic and will probably continue (after the dust inevitably settles, and we all get caught up in the hurrah that is the World Cup) for a long time to come. Therefore, we might be looking at covering up of this fixing issue (coz far too many ppl and powers-that-be are involved) and not fixing the fixing issue (heh!).
Is that the conclusion we are getting to? That this fixing issue will not be resolved? To take the thread a little bit further, are we all fans of WWC (like WWE) where all matches are fixed? Are we supposed to enjoy a game we so love, knowing that atleast some parts are fixed? Long run, the fan’s dead?
Without feeding into your speculation about the identity of the player, the whole *spot fixing* thing goes back at least to the entire eighties decade — and that is as far as I know. Who knows when it all started? But yes, my takeaway has been that this is endemic, historic, and will continue despite these occasional *scandals*.
Long run? I suspect that most fans will do the same thing: get worked up about it for a week, forget, and get back to enjoying it while strangling any negative thoughts at birth. Too difficult to give up the addiction of a lifetime, no?
Based on your opinion, what is the motivation for stars to indulge in this? Is it just greed for money, or there other factors like threats/kidnappings of family members etc? Also, why havent we seen more reports/expose about these things when it is so rampant? For big stars, it seems especially risky to indulge in this as their career will be ruined with a single incident becoming public like what happened to Pak players. Is what they get really worth such a risk?
You tell me. Look, unless you are Gates — and face it, for all their vaunted money, even the best paid cricketers in the world are making small change compared to say football stars — if someone said hey, here’s 250k US, all you have to do is what you do anyway: score a six, bowl a no ball, get out caught in the deep, whatever. It is not about whether you really need that money — it is about the money being so easily made, you think, what’s the harm. Especially if it is during a tournament, say, in which you are not even remotely interested, and are playing only because it is on their board’s to-do list. You go hey, what the hell, might as well, and use that money to fund a holiday in the Bahamas. Then, once you take pin money for what you think is a little prank, you are hooked. For keeps. Ask Azhar.
About the risk factor — the thing is, it doesn’t seem risky. Else, after all these years, why would folks still do it? Fixing a match is discoverable, more or less; fixing little outcomes, not so much unless you happen to get lucky and monitor the right phone conversation. Happened with the Pakistanis — most other players from other teams have agents and a dozen other flunkies who can play the cut-off. So… even the risk is not as big as you think.
Thanks.
It seems like they may have started on a seeminly trivial issue and then they are on a slippery slope without end.
But I feel really sad and will probably start reducing my time on cricket watching or watch like a movie.
With the advances in cameras/recording technology, I still feel that it is likely that more people will be caught if they are repeat offenders.
Also, there should surely be some honest folks in the teams. what do they feel about this and why can’t they expose it?
Are the boards/politicians also involved in this and get a cut? Again, if more people are involved, it will mean that there is a higher risk of getting caught.
And why do more news organizations not do these type of sting operations?
Wonderfully written. As you have rightly pointed out, that it has become increasingly difficult to weed out fixing from strategy (errors).
Another thought comes to my mind.
A player is in sublime form and is playing against a team he loves thrashing. Bets are put on a hundred scored by this player, and mind you the match is a low scoring affair. So low scoring that if this player were to score the 100, his score would be almost 60% of the total score. What would the odds be like? 50:1, if the player scores a century (for not having been in the inner betting circles, I would not be able to come up with the exact figure.) Small bets are placed by a large number of people, which accumulates into a sizeable amount. If the people placing the bets were to win, the bookie as you can understand, would lose an entire fortune.
And you know what happened next. The batsman got stranded on 99*
Wow….great read Prem, you have done an excellent write up …I thought you were hinting at SMG instead of SRT…but like you said , who knows what the truth is ??
If it is really SMG (which seems the most logical based on what Prem said), then it just shows how hypocritical these guys are. I just saw SMG on NDTV preaching about how the caught pak players should be banned for life and all their records expunged.
duniya mein sab chori karte hain, jo pakda gaya woh chor, baki sab kotwal
Welcome back. You took off writing about one scandal and came back when another is breaking (or did it get you back?). Scandal or no scandal it is good to have you back.
I agree with you point, it is difficult to trust anyone. The Icon has such a pedestrian record as leader that one can ignore the incident you mentioned. Maybe.
Like everyone I love your analysis on cricket. But this time I hope you are wrong. If Sachin is involved in anything less than legitimate then I have nothing to say. And thanks for the book tip. Will try to get it. Though feel bad you gave away the ending. Last year I read your blog about your Dad and went and got My name is Asher Lev. And loved it.
“If Sachin is involved in anything less than legitimate then I have nothing to say”. To Sachin please add : Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, Kumble and Srinath. I truly believe they cannot be anything but honest and if they are even remotely dishonest then there is no point watching cricket
I feel like that child at a movie theater who believes and waits for the goodies to bash up the baddies and straighten things before the title starts rolling. The wait for poetic justice is what makes me suspend my disbelief. Somewhere something tells me that money won’t rule the world and talent alone will shine. I almost feel like uttering SRK’s lines from OSO: “Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost”. As a middle aged confirmed skeptic, I want my buried optimism to surface and convince me that there is still time left for the goodies to appear. Or maybe not! Maybe, I should switch channels when there’s cricket playing and shift to watching Bollywood Masala. At least in the latter, I don’t have to suspend disbelief!
I guess the player referred to in the article is also known for his hypocritical “I don’t drink” public stance while he regularly smuggled Gin into the hotel room after the day’s play! And what about the bowler who was known to carry bottle tops in his pocket to remove the shine and lift the seam?
Prem, I like the understated but the essential philosophical touch to the whole piece. Isn’t loss of innocence, at one level, the story of life in itself? After all, with every death (we encounter) doesn’t a layer of innocence peel off? But with death being the sole certainty of our lives, we are stupid to believe in innocence to start with itself.
Without condoning the rotten acts of the malcontents on the field, we, as fans, and some of us in the media, are also guilty of building a fantasy of purity around the game and its players. To expect cricketing heroes to be vested with truly heroic values in real life, too, though understandable is a tad naive. And also unfair, at another level. After all, with so much of media focus and public adulation, they aren’t allowed to live the real life.
While people are right to feel appalled at the acts of Asif or Amir, but look at the way it comes through. ‘But Amir is so talented. How can he…’ It is as if the ability to brilliantly deliver the cricket ball also enjoins him to possess the value system of a zen monk.
Elsewhere, Tiger Woods can be said to be paying a heavier price than any other philandering husband simply because he was a champion in a sport that, then again, has been seen to be ‘noble’ and ‘great’
Cricket, or for that matter any other sport, howsoever great and pristine we may think itself to be, is, in the end, just a game and not a moral exercise. Cricket is a noble sport, those of us who like to romanticise are never tired of saying. But hang on. When did it the game actually, and truly, show to us to be noble? It has given us many memorable moments and great occasions which we extrapolate to some assumed high value system. But just because we begin to follow a sport from our young days, it doesn’t necessarily need to possess a childhood ideal.
If tomorrow it emerges that Tendulkar or Dravid (heaven forbid) is ‘bent’, we will all be shocked. But, just as we may pick the shards of our broken ideal, we will also do well to remember that sports persons are imperfect humans like any of us.
For a true sports buff, it is the only truth that is worth holding on to. More so now than ever.
Thanks Prem, for a thought-provoking piece.
We are expecting a lot from them. Really ? Since when did being honest and NOT corrupt become high expectations.
I read a lot cof comments about how Pakistani players turned to match-fixing because they were not able to make money by playing in the IPL. They used to do that before the IPL too. And since when did “my neighbour has mor emoney than me” server as an excuse for being crroked ?
@IPLwatcher: As I said, I’m not condoning the acts. Nor I feel honesty is too high to expect.
All I belaboured about was that in these times when every hero eventually shows up his feet of clay, it will be practical for us to be ready for such an eventuality. It’ll at least save us the ‘blow’ of a shock.
Mind you, I repeat, they are players in vulnerable life situations, and not abbots in a monastery.
Beautiful post. I was just talking to my partner about this yesterday. About how, at some level, we lost hope and got bored, and just drifted away from the apathy and willful negligence. Another writer, arguably the finest to have ever written there, just yesterday said he was hurting; that he could not summon the will to write about the game more often. Imagine that. A man who added to the pantheon of great cricket literature struggled to find joy.
We were once interested. I know I feel a flicker of love for it from time to time when I play a ghost straight drive, and remember afternoons from fifteen years ago when all I did was practice straight drives in a narrow passageway at home. Or when there is beauty in the impossible shot on television.
Those fuckers can do what they want. I’ve got my memories.
Amit is that you?!! 🙂
Um no, it is not Amit 🙂
Me too, mate. The only internal debate is whether to keep watching, and run the risk of overlaying those memories with a whole lot of shit, or quit, and preserve those memories in as pristine a condition as possible, without the overlay of more ugly, more recent realities.
BTW, I understand the angst of the writer you cite — whose initials likely are the same as yours? For the second day running I started off thinking I’ll write a post on all the things that happened at Lord’s — and ended up rambling, rather than confront all this shit.
Ah!! Gotcha! The first names are also same…
Actually thanks to Prem for introducing the fine gentlemen.. their blogs were a regular haunt….
Great comeback Prem. Looking forward to more postings from you.
Please write at least a few posts per week. Thanks for the great read.
Not surprised reading the article. Our cricket team probably has the most amount of skeletons in the cupboard. No wonder the game i so fanatically followed as a kid doesnt appeal to me anymore.
Prem,
I probably speak for a lot of Indian cricket fans when I say that most of the current cricket leaves us jaded. All of us, though, have our favourite cricket memories.
My problem with this latest incident is that even my cherished memories don’t quite carry the same significance anymore. They don’t mean as much. This is sickening to even contemplate.
I do have a logistical question about spot fixing esp. related to this recent incident.
Now lets say that a bookie has paid money to 2 bowlers to deliver no-balls on the 3rd delivery of the 1st and 2nd overs.
A punters buys this info from the bookie and then proceeds to make such a specific bet with a bookmaker.
Wouldn’t such a specific bet immediately raise alarms?
Even if the betting happens through underground illegal syndicates, wouldn’t specific bets of this nature allow detection? If the bet placed is just for a 1st over no-ball then why did it HAVE to be on the 3rd ball, as it was in this case.
How many people are complicit in this?
Um, that is not exactly how this works. The first thing to keep in mind was that these no-balls were meant to convince the syndicate — in this case, the News of the World — that the fixer had the ability to deliver certain fixed performances on demand. He tells his potential client, NOTW in this case, that he can get to Pak’s star bowlers, and to prove it, he says, watch: X ball of Y over will be a no ball. So at the end of the exercise, the syndicate knows it can manipulate on-field events through this fixer. That is a start.
So, if I am the syndicate, here’s one way I go about it: I look at an upcoming game, assess various probabilities. Some are obvious, which for the bettor means betting on it happening gives me very short odds, hence very little profit. Some are long odds — so betting on those gives me more mileage in terms of returns. With me so far?
So what I do is create a slate of bets I want to place. Like, X number of runs will be scored in the opening over; a wicket will fall in or before the 4th over… and so on. The bookie gives me the odds based on the bets I want to place, I put down my money, and we find out who gets richer at the end.
How it plays for me is if within the course of a game, I am able to ensure that some seemingly unlikely events will in fact take place. Then I slip these events into my larger menu of bets — and bet heavily on these occurrences, thus maximizing my profits. Yeah, if I bet that the last ball of an over is going to be a no ball, everyone gets alerted; the bookie is no idiot, so might sniff something funny. But if my bet seems more a play on probabilities — this batsman, currently in brilliant form, will get out for a score under 10, say — then you can suspect all you like, but prima facie I am just betting against the trend [after all, some bloke did make a fortune betting on India to defeat the West Indies in the 1983 World Cup, no?].
Ha! Ha! Prem That was the question that was swirling in my mind after the events of last 3 days and then I laughed at my self.
so what if the 1983 was a…..
No cant bring myself up say it…
Continuing Prem and Agni’s thought process – what about that famous scoop caught famously by our darling Mallu, during the final of the World Cup short format??
Scary!
Wonderful article, Sir. In these days of too much noise and too little facts, enjoyed reading your article.
And the person you are talking about is SMG and his maternal uncle Madhav Mantri. This story is well known amongst all of us who grew up ‘listening’ and then watching cricket in 80s.. but nothing was ever proven, those were the innocent days.
I wish we all can trust cricket once again.
Nice to see you back, Prem. Perhaps, if more journalists like you came out with such stories, people like me would stop investing emotional energy in cricket. And, watch it like a movie. Set to a script. Purely for entertainment. Not for a moment believing that the heroes on-screen had anything to do with their off-screen personalities. Perhaps, it’s best to be cynical and so that we don’t set ourselves up for disappointment. It’s already happened to me once with Azharuddin. I just don’t want it to happen with other people whom I fell in love with when I was young – Sachin, Dravid, Kumble. I don’t think I will ever worship others like that again. So, there’s little danger of it repeating in the future. But, if such things are true of the three people I mentioned, don’t tell me. I just don’t want to know.
I’d like to make a point to you, Sriram, and all others reading this: When I mentioned the captain’s bizarre decision, it was to make a point, and it is this: For all I know, that call was a genuine mind-melt, not one powered by extraneous considerations. My point is simply this — once you lose your innocence, once the game you love betrays you once, there is always a voice inside of you unwilling to trust, constantly questioning everything you see. Once someone you admire lets you down, you question everyone else — even those you put on a pedestal. So, that reference — to underline the sort of feelings, the kind of constant questioning and second-guessing, that helped me make up my mind to stop doing match reports and assorted tripe. Nowhere am I saying I know that to be true — unlike the earlier episode, which I started with the words “This is a true story”.
I was about to tweet that football has far fewer events to ‘fix’. But if the two teams decide to go into it together the options are obviously ‘richer’. Ditto for tennis.
Italy in particular perfected the art of the football fix. Way too many examples but I am sure you know them as well as I do 🙂
Prem: You sure have “distinguished” readership 🙂 Good to see Dr. Bhogle commenting here.
Reporting/blogging is probably the only profession that allows innuendos and unverified facts to be posted with little consequences or minimal risk. And given that this is India, the consequences are non existent.
I would have had more respect for Prem if he had the cojones to actually name SRT and SMG in his post. Obviously, he believes in the stories, otherwise he would not have posted them, but doesn’t have the morals to sign his name on it.
Reminds me of a line by Nana Patekar “Kalam wali baai, aaj ka akhbaar kal **** pocchne ke liye kal istamaal hota hai” or words to that effect. The film starred Dimple Kapadia…
Ever hear of the word “libel”? Which, unfortunately, says that even if I know something to be fact, I cannot name names unless I can substantiate them? So, to substantiate an allegation, I need a particular bookie to come to court and testify. There might be more reasons to do or not do something that just the size of my cojones — something for you to think about. I write when I want to, and when I do I say what I honestly believe — whether that earns me respect or opprobrium is not something I consider. Your call.
In passing, much of what I said is neither earth shaking, nor a secret. Check the earlier comments — some things are apparently known even to people with no connection to cricket journalism. Or to bookies.
So, question – Is it disgusting just because there’s money involved? Consider a multi-team tournament. Suppose team A has nailed its slot in the final and has an upcoming match with a weaker team (team B) and knows going in that if they lose, they will meet team B in the final and therefore, a better chance of winning the final. If team A decides to throw it (without making it very obvious) – is that strategy or match fixing?
@Patni: Not sure I agree with you that there are no consequences. If he did what you suggested, at the very least, he’d be sued for slander; so will Yahoo! India (yes, you can sue even in India, assuming you have a large enough bank balance, which the ppl involved definitely do!). There’ll be a big massive newsprint/bytes wasted on it … PP would probably also lose all his contacts he’s built over the years – no one will speak to you if they think you won’t respect confidentiality … too much to lose. My 2c anyways …
@Venky: actually I remember South Africa under Hansie Cronje (who else) doing exactly that. They didn’t lose, but for a period in 1996-97, when they were by my reckoning the most consistent ODI team, in a tri-series in Sharjah, they adopted a go-slow approach against a meagre Indian total of 216 I think. They won, but took about 47-48 overs to do so. Net result was that India’s net run rate rose higher than Pakistan’s, and they made the finals. Then in a tri-series at home, with India and Zimbabwe, they did the same by going for quick runs against India. We beat Zim though and made the final (the one Dravid smashed Donald for a six over his head), and were unlucky to lose that due to archaic rain rules. Dont think it was remarked on much, but even if it was, since it was done with intent to win, it must’ve been easier to overlook. Do you have any inputs on this Prem?
Better examples –
1.) Steve Waugh was very honest about his go-slow against the West Indies in the 1999 World Cup in order to keep New Zealand out of the Super Six. (It did not work, but eventually it did not matter. Imagine the captain of some other team even attempting that, and the reactions it would generate.)
2.) When Nayan Mongia and Manoj Prabhakar slowed down with 40ish runs required off 5 overs against the West Indies (Mongia actually left 3 balls of the 46th over alone), the match referee docked India a point because he suspected something fishy. The Indian manager pointed out that they would rather play New Zealand in the final, so going slow was obviously not a tactical move. (Another interesting point I seem to remember about that match – 4 of the 6 Indian wickets were runouts, including Kambli run out going for a cheeky single off a no ball at a time when you did not get a bonus run for the no ball if you scored.)
While I can understand why you wont name names – It is still poor form to deal with innuendo. Im sick and tired of these “An opening batsman with impeccable technique” or “reliable sources” or whatever technique used to imply everything while saying nothing. Surely some proof must be furnished or otherwise whats the difference between you and any other film star paparazzi stating that a leading actress slept around to land her award winning role? Harsh words (and apologies but I dont feel like deleting them) but then I hold you to a much higher standard than others.
Tendulkar , Sehwag, Kapil Dev and Kumble if only these were honest in all the cricketers I’ve seen so far I’d be satisfied. But one of them , I already don’t know (Kapil).
In any case its time to stop following cricket I think – perhaps Chess next.
I am sorry Prem; I agree with Deepak here: it was poor form getting SRT into this discussion. I am not saying this because I am one of those rabid fans of Sachin who scream murder everytime his cricketing skills or integrity are questioned. I am saying this because I think the man has done enough to deserve an indulgence that other cricketers may not be offered, which is not to have journalists question his integrity without proof. (To be fair to you, you did clarify in the comments section that your statements on the two cricketers above are not comparable)
It’s happening all over.. unless we are hoodwinked. take the recent test series in Srilanka, do you think all the decisions(especially handling Mendis) made by Sangakkara justified?? The last innings collapse in the third test match justified with the kind of attack that we have.Well..it’s been years since i stopped watching games just as a game. The confidence took a beating. I wonder how it can come back??
you have give enough hints that there is no need to give out any name. but this smells like a cheapshot from you…. i just hope the person u are trying to hint at does not read this…frankly i think holding back the most aggressive player back was a tactical move even though it didnt work out.. here are the reasons…
1) the player was held back just till the point at which the only thing he had to do was swing and hit.. no singles or playing in…basically nothing to lose scenario.. and it seemed like it was working.. atleast for a over or two… and i can discuss this with you in great detail…
2) the guys that were sent ahead of him..e.g a lefty from SA… needs time to get his eye in..so couldn’t be sent down the order.. with few overs left..
3) the said aggressive player was not comfortable against spin.. and by the time he came in the main spinners had completed the quota..
4) holding the aggressive player back, also keeps the opponent worried that the game is not over and hence they will still be nervous..
so from my perspective the decision was good.. since the player himself showed that in the 12 or so balls that he was there… however the failure was that the other batsmen could not contribute in the earlier overs…
and that the opponent captain remained calm during the 12 ball onslought and planned a brilliant dismisal… if there had been another captain.. maybe the final result might have been different……
maybe the player u r hinting at and me are the only 2 people in the world who think that it was a brilliant tactics that almost worked…
55 of 18 balls ? yes, keeping ur best striker from not batting till 18 balls are left is great strategy. What is Murali bowled the 20th over, where would have Pollard batted.
My feeling is that Tendulkar wanted to show that IPL can be won with Indian talent alone.
go read sun tzu’s art of war…
Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory. …
plus.. i think the decision appears hard to comprehend because the earlier batsmen.. both lefties… failed.. if they had scored briskly the ask would not have been higher……
there is a strategy called.. holding back till the right moment or the right over…say 16th or 17th…..
ur analysis.. of using indian talent alone… would have made sense if they didn’t have any non-indian in the team… seems a bit childish…
overall… i just feel that the author’s article is in bad taste.. suggesting something about a player and just planting doubts in people’s minds… i just hope he doesn’t have a bias against them….
how abt quoting abt the match.. where a certain player achieving a “perfect” record in history… maybe not since the author is very friendly with him or biased towards him….
amit i think u miss the point….the point is not which of the stories are true…the point is that the game can be manipulated and has been manipulated….someone who tries to understand the game deeply is more prone to having seeds of discontent sown in his mind…hence its the impact on a die-hard fan which is crucial…since there is no pain and we are slowly becoming comfortably numb!!
Any reference to Tendulkar always generates lot of debate, and that is expected. People always had huge expectations on the man ever since he showed up on the national stage at a very young age. Personally, I lost interest in cricket ever since the match fixing scandal broke out and several of the stars were appeared as tainted – Azhar primarily, and I am not sure about Kapil (I still hope not). Since then, I am more of a follower/admirer of Tendulkar than that of the game itself. I vowed myself that I will stop following the game when Sachin calls it a day.
Having stated my personal bias, here is my take on that infamous decision of not bringing in Pollard to bat sooner. The possible explanations are a) the decision was motivated by reasons other than cricket – for me this is hard to believe. I haven’t heard/read anything about the way the man conducted himself on the field that would suggest he would have done that. I still have faith on the man. b) He is incompetent – a lousy captain/strategist any way – I don’t buy this either. Agreed his tenure at the top while representing India wasn’t stellar (rather it was poor), but I believe there are several other reasons for that. At that time he was young, seniors weren’t cooperating, board wasn’t cooperating anyway and in addition there were few match fixers in the team. The MI team did well until getting into the finals under his captaincy. c) He genuinely thought that was the best decision at that time, based on his read of the match situation, based on the information he had, which on hindsight appear to be flawed. Without having evidence to prove anything otherwise, I am contented with this option. May be at some time in future he will try to explain his reasoning behind this decision, or may be not. Bottom line, his strategy did not work that day, and to me that is still fine.
One more quick note. I do believe Prem is not accusing Sachin of fixing the game. I do get his larger point that once you start hearing these stories, how do you know what you can truly believe, outside of your faith, which is subjective anyway. What other example can you take other than Sachin to drive this larger point – it rallied most to say, “please say it isn’t him”. We have seen him grow in front of our eyes, almost doing the lone battles until the support crew showed up, who decided to play for the team’s cause even at the time of his dad’s death, his battles with a broken back, at the center of match fixing scandal, we heard stories about how bookies thought Sachin was untouchable etc. If because of the events happening else where the general public lose faith on their heroes, the interest on the game itself will be gone, and I believe that is the point that Prem is making, and I agree with that.
And Yes, Prem, thanks for coming back.
why is that Pawar is currently responsible for rotting of 2 things Indians love: food and cricket ?
Prem: I wanted some thoughts from you on Pawar. I remember you writing a fairly positive article on Pawar after one of your visits to Baramati during an earlier general election. What changed? His desperation to get PM’s gaddi? Or his Dhritarashtra-rian love for his progenies? And what does all this say about the opposition in Maharashtra that they can’t challenge a man and a coalition so embroiled in corruption and ineptitude?
Pawar’s core competence really is as a ‘visionary’ — even in Baramati, it is not that he actually did a lot of good things. His success was due to the fact that he thought of how to improve his constituency — the broad strategic strokes. Day to day implementation was the business of his brother and a dedicated team.
What works at that level, however, seems to fail on the national stage, both as minister and as cricket chief. Partly because that is two full time jobs for an ailing man no longer really capable of holding down even one; partly because in neither place has he managed to put in place a structure where ideas are seamlessly implemented.
The opposition question is something else — the problem is that there is none, not that one exists but doesn’t know how to mount a challenge.
The Sena has been a one trick pony with its whole parochial war cry; unfortunately, what worked in the seventies and eighties doesn’t work today, and the Sena has no thinking, no vision, no grander plan, to replace the one that has reached its use-by date. Secondly, the Sena cannot really bring up corruption as an issue, considering what they build their own party base on. And the same problem affects the BJP — it doesn’t know what language to talk, now that the language of Ayodhya/Hindutva has begun yielding diminishing marginal returns at the polling booth [after all, the BJP’s economic policies, hell, even its policy on nuclear, is identical to the Congress version, so where is the USP?].
I think the failure of the opposition, both in Maharashtra and elsewhere, is its inability to provide a clear choice. On the one hand there is the Congress. On the other hand, there is — what? Congress-lite? I don’t know what the opposition stands for any more.
“TINA” Factor again to the Congress,that’s why we continue to have dynastic politics,and we continue to accept the Congress saying-others are similar -knowingly we elect devils ,we do not want angels.
We continue to have the same corruption of the highest order at all institutions as everyone wants to fill his her own pockets .
Coming to Sports itself on one side we clamour for more sports people to take on admin roles in respective bodies but if we see PCB-the ex Cricketers have not done better,similarly in IPL it is the SMG,RS,Pat who have been found wanting.
Maybe the key criteria whether Govt or sports should be integrity
I am nonplussed with reports Watson,Haddin et al now coming out of the woodwork to say they were approached by bookies. Hopefully they just said no and reported the issue. Why does the ACU work in the same opaque manner as the ICC? If there have been approaches, why not make them public and increase awareness especially among younger players on entrapment? Just get the feel that the ACU is a bunch of black suited men just jetting around ‘Kaante’ style, no teeth whatsoever.
If you go back through the archives, I think you will find that the ACB reported these approaches to the ICC at the time — the players told the ACB, which duly filed its report. I know the initial impression is that as soon as something happens a bunch of cricketers grab the spotlight with allegations that they had been approached in the year back-when, but in this case that is not true.
Long awaited post is finally here!:) Loved reading this post.
The opening batsman with impeccable style u refer to used to have his sister in my school -a senior by some years- and then as giggly girls we’d go gushing abt him when he’d come to pick her up once in a while from our school. We then use to hear snatches of conversations amongst the seniors in school abt him being involved in ‘underhanded tactics’ – could never understand the ramifications then:)
I don’t think all journalists are as pure as you make them out to be:) Some may have got disillusioned with this battery of absue to the sport and reinvented themselves to focus on other subjects-sure… but lots-not!
Sharad pawar is a politician first. a sports related person after. Just like one can never take the stripes off a tiger so not frm a politician too. Why is it surprising for so many intelligent folks to keep debating over the betting and match fixing allegations (including Arnab who we all love to hate but stay glued to nonetheless) when the reality is sports is only a minor part of Indian lives!
Perhaps what is needed is this same passion to be transferred to Politics and the mess our national/state politics is in. becos in reality all that we see reflected in cricket is mirrored in our sports. The rot is everywhere but stems from Politics. we may one day have a better life or the average citizen of this country, may learn to fulfill their dreams if an overhaul takes place in Politics of this nation:)
And its only when the governance of the nation is set right, can sports and all its facets be set right. In my opinion 🙂
Ah, so you had distinguished company in school, huh? Judging by timelines, that makes us contemporaneous. 🙂 Tangentially — never said all journos are lily white. I merely referred to a bunch of scintillating writers — Amit Varma, Rahul Bhattacharya, Rahul Bhatia, Dileep Premachandran [I know he still writes, but it is off and on, not like in the halcyon days when all these guys were writing in CI together], Chandrahas Choudhary… — all of whom, working in tandem, made CI so compelling during that period, and all of whom drifted out of cricket writing almost entirely since. Talk to them, almost all of them will tell you of seeing things, hearing things, that gradually killed their enthusiasm for the game.
See? That’s my point a handful of scintillating writers:) In a country where our population exceeds 1.2B today/:)
I recently happen to go to Mr Pawars constituency. And when one is thr one looks fwd to fresh sugar cane juice! In a geography where sugarcane fields stare you in the eye from every nook n cranny we could not find a single road side shop with stocked sugarcane. When we took a halt and asked one of the shop owners (decripit broken corrugated roof and one wall missing) why no sugarcane – he smiled sadly and said too expensive to buy in this season.
In this land of plenty, what happened to the prosperity?:( Is Pawar even bothered how the local farmer thinks? No! He has ICC and BCCI and all things laden with money on his mind!
Oh come ON now. Who is this opening batsman with impeccable style? I don’t mind the wink-and-nudging – Prem’s point about not being able to trust anyone is well-taken – but the suspense is killing me.
Was reading this ..
http://www.rediff.com/sports/1999/mar/24a.htm
how did you feel when you got to know that this was fixed.
Oh, that was not the only one — there were many occasions during that period when you wrote match reports in good faith, only to learn afterwards that legitimate questions could be asked about various incidents in that game. That is what I was driving at in my post — it is not like you wake up one day and have an epiphany; at least in my case, how it happened was that I began doing this in 1996 full of joy, and passion. Gradually, those feelings leeched out; I found myself writing one thing and thinking another; over time, therefore, writing match reports became a chore, a tedious one thanks to this constant internal battle between the cricket fan and the newly minted cynic. And then one day I decided the hell with it — if I can’t take joy from doing this, then I don’t want to do it. In fact, I had stopped in late 1999. I occasionally did some stuff after that, but only on my private blog. Then Rediff asked me to come back [I was in the States at the time] to do the 2003 WC. I did the reports on that tournament and as soon as it was over, told my bosses I didn’t want to do cricket reports any more. Never have done that since — though there is a possibility I might do at least the India games in the 2011 Cup, for Yahoo.
and thats why we missed you Prem…i m glad that spot-fixing scandal erupted…its atleast brought u back and now i can read and re-read ur posts…the perspective you offer is what makes all of us wanting more from you.
The opening batsman is a common urban legend which most mumbai sons have grown up to listening from their father…as with the case with many on this page, I heard it from my father as well…..before the 2000 match fixing erupted if u asked in mumbai streets to the well connected ppl you wud have heard azhars name mentioned in a whispering voice…a rumor emerging from a big media company (associated with IPL) told us at the start of ipl1 that RR would be the final winners….now i wish i had betted a huge amount at that point….point is not which of these above is true but the truth is that previously the D-Company used to write the screenplay now the Corporations have entered into writing the screenplay….i think it is a sad fact and as u pointed …now no longer can the heart appreciate a “joyous moment” like perfect ending of IPL1 bcos the mind is fully aware of the shenanigans that can occur.
Cricket is rightly now into the “3 hr movie” template….khao peo majaa karo aur bhul jao after 3 hrs……if the match was exciting appreciate the “direction”, “screenplay” and the “writer” when you come out of the cinema halls….the only thing missing is the a note at the start of the match to say “any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental”
Prem I thought you covered the Australia 2001 series (including Eden Gardens) for Rediff
This reads a bit like a suspicious husband who heard that his best friend’s wife cheated on him so therefore he has now decided to mistrust his wife and re-think all those previous incidents and therefore decided to hate her because the explanation was not good enough for him. (or… read the Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana)
Something similar happens in the law. You see a judgment go one way and you attribute it to corruption (especially if you’re the losing side). You’re not able to explain something, so you attribute it to “judge usually favours this lawyer”. You don’t know the facts of the case, but you read the media’s report of an order, and draw the conclusion that the judge was probably corrupt.
There’s no doubting that there are corrupt judges everywhere, but the evidence for that does not come from “he said, she said”, or “I can’t explain within the realm of my knowledge and understanding, so it is obviously corruption.” The evidence is usually uncovered by activists and lawyers who painstakingly collate the undeniable facts and make a strong case that on the face of it, X judge seems to have acted in an unacceptable manner. For what not to do, see Prashant Bhushan’s quote in Tehelka on CJI Kapadia, and for what and how, see Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reforms’ work on PD Dinakaran.
If cricket’s corruption has become an epidemic, I guess some responsibility also lies with good, honest journalists and cricket writers who got so easily disillusioned based on what they heard and went away, when they could have exposed the truth on the basis of hard fact. Either way, it would have been a great service to the honest players and the fans. Much as NOTW’s other work barely classifies it as “journalistic” it has rendered a yeoman service to cricket lovers by this expose. (Not forgetting Tehelka)
Prem,
This is rumor mongering at best. How can a senior and well respected journalist such as yourself write trash like this? You need to substantiate it with some proof and not hide behind fear of libel all the time. Write honestly if you know something to be the truth, else shut your trap. Just because 10 people say someone is dishonest, doesn’t prove it is true. Tomorrow if few people start spreading rumors about your wife or mother, would you start believing it just because 20 people have heard about it?
And the point is not what is proven to be true. The point is that how does a fan know what is real and what is not. And as a fan, he has every right to have those doubts, and eventually lose interest in analyzing the game with confirmed reports on incidents else where. You do realize this is his personal blog, right?
As a journalist, I agree that doubts come in when you have to write a preview or analyse a strategy and the conviction’s gone. That’s why I like you as a writer because it came from the heart. But since all not matches are fixed and since your analysis may not exactly be the right one in any case, we have to go about our job.
And if the whole gist of recalling the book paragraphs shows that fixing is all encompassing – for various ends, of course – how does the logic of giving up on writing cricket reports serve your new belief. Then football and all sport writers should give up their profession. I know your response to this will be ‘to each is his own; I did what I felt right’. But then again, by the same logic, if we all know what is wrong with the Pawars and BCCI and ICC, we don’t stop writing about them or giving up the profession altogether. The challenge is to go deeper into every story and if the conscience is saying the strategy by the captain did not make sense, speak to players, the captain himself unless you convince yourself and the readers on your findings. That was the whole point of Rediff sending you to cover the Cronje trial not to just write on who said what and Hansie’s expressions. But to say you stopped writing cricket reports with a ‘I-don’t-want-to-get-my-hands-dirty’ attitude is misleading, for sure in hindsight. The plain explanation is every one moves on from the rigmarole to bigger things in life which is what you did as managing editor now and like all good Cricinfo writers. Whether you agree or not, welcome back from the break. Looking forward to the next blog post.
Indeed once again we become sociologists and question everything. Normally I wouldn’t have taken much notice of the BCCI Corporate Trophy, but it seems like a tournament ripe for fixing- TV coverage but nothing riding on it for players and so easy money to be made. Look at this scorecard from a Group D match between Income Tax and ONGC:
http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/474402.html
can anyone give a non-fixing explanation for how a team with 7 current or former India reps loses to a bunch of no-names by 171 runs???
What a way to come back! But disappointed that you picked two of India’s finest cricketers for your comeback post. Sir..You’re far better writer and it was not required.
Conspiracy theories are many…going by these match-fixing theories one can say that MSD fixed the final in the recent SL tournament. We can find many instances when he made those bowling changes and also the team selected for the final. But we know MSD is not like that …why? Because he is not short of cash..So is SRT & SMG. They have earned enough legally that can last through their generations. I think we should discuss and try to find a personal or a cricketing reason behind some of those stupid moves.
Great piece mate. Thanks. I too have hung by boots as a cricket fan. Just not on !!!
i agree with those who object to inneundo. there is something not quite right about this. something sneaky. something not quite manly. you can’t hit a guy who has no chance of defending himself.
what if you’re wrong? what if the bookies (not by reputation the most upright of citizens) were lying, or boasting, or simply reporting rumours? it is natural for bookies or fixers to boast of their connections and abilities to fix.
gavaskar downed the shutters before *every* break. that is old-school batsmanship.
reporting rumours is only gossip. there has to be a process of corroboration. has prem followed this process? all journalists are expected to do this. ethics applies to journalism as well.
somebody wold me this story. when sanjay gandhi’s place crashed, indira gandhi was distraught. she scoured the site of plane crash looking for sanjay’s watch because on the back of the watch, sanjay gandhi’s swiss bank account number was carved. it’s a lovely story everybody believed and faithfully repeated, but there was nothing to back it up. everybody swore it was true and they knew someone who was in a position to know. that is the nature of the urban legend.
what if this is really a hatchet-job for some real or perceived slight done by gavaskar to prem? we all know it happens. we all know of crooked and vindictive journalists. (not calling prem one – just stating a possibility).
what if i go on tv, and start speculating about ‘a certain malyali cricket journalist with a large fan following and a beard’? this saves me from libel apparently, while leaving me free to libel.
heck, what if i get on the wrong side of a powerful journalist, and he rips my reputation to shreds because he happens to have a wide readership. who is going to listen to me?
journalists wield far more power than people with a lot of illegal money. it is a power they should use cautiously.
sorry about the multiple responses. remember 20% of americans still believe obama is muslim. over 50% of pakistanis believe that september 11 was a zionist conspiracy. and a large section of population believes that idols of ganesh can drink milk. many swear to have seen this with their own eyes. the world is full of people who’ll believe anything at all.
You know, as you mentioned, the spot fixing issue is not specific to cricket and it is not specific to the last few years when the ‘craziness’ for cricket was at its height. It has been there since for ever and in most of the international sports. So really the issue just reflects our society. If the society is healthy these things do not happen too often. Prem, you mentioned that if someone says, ‘Hey, here is 250K, bowl at least 5 no balls in this match’, if the society is a healthy society then it would have taught the bowler to say ‘NO’. I use the word society but it is really ‘We’. So, when does this all stop? When all the other stuff stops, such as corruption, bribery etc which are bothering any government. And when is that? I hope I live to see it….
Am compelled to add my 2 penny worth here- When does corruption take place? What do the world economics teach us? 20%rich rule over 80% poor (have vs the have nots) _in our country the ratio is even more lop sided becos not only do we have the poor we also have the ratio compounded by god knows how many foodless, homeless, clotheless whom we don’t look after! So when u give this kinda person Rs 10/100 he will do anything for u! Thr would u call that survival or corruption?
U say healthy society? How many of us are willing to compel and pressurize current governance to change? Or do something ourselves?:)
Now reflect this on cricket the only sport that Pak or India know. Suddenly from a low middle class or lower class socio economic b/g u plummet this kid into a world of glitz, power, wealth, money and what not- is he not going to be impacted?:)
nobody found a leading indian batsman’s dismissal at eden gardens in the 1996 world cup semi final fishy? he was beaten, looked back at the keeper, saw the ball in his hand and set off for a run. if it was genuine, his mind was surely molten.
http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/65190.html
i also found the way manoj prabhakar was implicated in fixing quite fishy. almost as if the fixing establishment struck back with a vengeance after the tehelka scoop.
personally i was a die-hard cricket fan till last decade’s scandal broke, but once the innocence was lost, my interest was totally lost (azhar was my favorite player till he was proven guilty but imho he was one of the very few who got an apt punishment-unlike waugh, warne or akram).
since then, i have watched every match with a healthy dose of skepticism.
some questions:
is it possible for some “mr clean”s to operate in a team when he knows that many of his teammates are corrupt?
it is impossible for someone in a 17-member squad to be totally ignorant of his teammates’ follies.
is it possible to fix matches without total collusion?
disclaimer: i’m not a cricket fan. i don’t keep tabs on who won what against who, and i don’t know any specifics about the matches u’re talking about. when i watch cricket, i do it in precisely the same way that i do wwe which means hardly ever. if u’re interested, i stumbled on this in a bout of random url-casing.
oddly, tho, i find sports writing wonderful, esp given that i grew up reading the hindu. :-). so what i’m asking, then is: if one can’t trust cricket matches, how does one trust cricket writing? if things are as u say they are, and the journalists who follow cricket are aware of it, how does “legitimate” cricket-writing work? do writers withhold praise from players they suspect of being crooked? given that u’re planning to write on cricket again (as u say somewhere in the comments) how do /you/ intend to deal with this Dangerous Knowledge that u hold? am interested, in almost a purely anthropological sense.
I believe we are dissecting too much into every uncertainty in a cricket match. I know Dravid once made 12 runs in 96 balls in the oval test. India was way ahead of England that time. They had to declare. But Dravid’s slow innings made sure India couldn’t declare with time to bowl out England. I can bring out 100s of such coincidences and blame it as match fixing. But i strongly trust these players and i question the credibility of the sources.
Maybe it is time for no voice at all?
Wake up guys! Cricket especially post IPL has tuned into a DIRTY business run by the GAMBLING MAFIA of politicians,cricketers and sports officials-if you do not believe so you are living in fool’s paradise and these guys make money at your expense when yo would be better off making a living rather than being glued to TAMASHA cricket. Waht is tyhe differnce between Indian Government and indian cricket-One is dirtier than the other——————
great signal thanx
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