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Given the recent spot-fixing setbacks, you would think the whole mess of cricket corruption is centred in Pakistan, but in fact the problem is much wider. This does not minimise the culpability of Pakistan’s errant cricketers. But it is important to understand the true scope of the wider tragedy that is eroding the spirit of this beloved game.

The expectation from cricket has always been that with all the regulations, oversight, monitoring, and checks and balances, the international game is played in the spirit of honesty and fairness that is enshrined in the laws of the game. A new book, Caught out by Brian Radford (John Blake Publishers, UK, 2011) lays bare just how foolhardy this expectation has proved to be.

Radford, an investigative sports journalist who writes for the British national press, has done a commendable job of bringing together modern cricket’s misdeeds of cheating and corruption in one place. The book’s 20 chapters include five on Pakistan, with the remaining chapters discussing incidents and upheavals involving other major teams, including England, South Africa, Australia, and India. There are oblique references to West Indies and Sri Lanka as well.

It is instructive to see the various corrupt behaviours of different teams displayed side by side on the same canvas.

Some Pakistani supporters might take heart in noting that their team doesn’t have a monopoly on cricket’s naughtiness, but this is an emotional trap that must be avoided. The real lesson from Bradford’s impressive review is that cricket’s tragedy of corruption is far worse than we realise, and that will give genuine cricket fans only heartache and pain.

A few of the incidents discussed are so outrageous, it is shocking that they did not trigger a media firestorm. Early in the narrative, for example, Radford dedicates a chapter to former England opener Marcus Trescothick, who has made a startling confession. In his autobiography, Trescothick admitted to being assigned the task of chewing mint candy during the celebrated Ashes series of 2005, which England won after a series of thrilling encounters.

The purpose of this oral activity was to sweeten his saliva, which was then liberally applied to retain shine on one side of the ball for much longer than usual, thereby doctoring it for more effective reverse swing. Indeed, England’s seamers exploited this tampered ball to great effect, reverse-swinging their way to an improbable victory. “I was firmly established as the man in charge of looking after the ball while we were fielding,” notes Trescothick at the start of his candid admission. Amazingly, these revelations never caught fire, and the obvious implication that the England team cheated never gathered momentum.

Another bizarre English misdemeanour was when the England Cricket Board decided to get in bed with businessman Allen Stanford, who now stands thoroughly discredited and is serving time in jail. In 2008, Stanford organised a winner-takes-all Twenty20 encounter between English and West Indian players with prize money of $20 million. There was glitzy publicity and both the West Indian and English cricket boards were ensured huge cash windfalls. A Texas businessman who had settled in the Caribbean and taken a liking to cricket, Stanford had earlier also sponsored domestic T20 clashes in West Indies with astronomical amounts of prize money.

To sensible cricket followers, nothing had seemed right about Stanford and his shameless approach to cricket commercialism.

In early 2009, everybody’s worst fears eventually came true when Stanford and his wife were indicted in a US court for tax evasion and public fraud. English cricket officials were left red-faced, but the matter quickly died down and somehow the muck never stuck.

Radford establishes his impartiality when he extends his pen to corruption problems in Indian cricket, which many people feel gets an easy ride because of the wealth and global influence of India’s cricket board. A tantalising chapter deals with the startling revelations of five leading Australian cricketers (Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, and Mitchell Johnson among them) who announced in 2010 that at various points in the recent past they had been approached by a suspicious Indian man. The encounters had enough tell-tale signs to suggest the overtures had to do with match-fixing. The ICC as well as India’s police authorities both took serious notice of the matter, but nothing substantial has come of this as yet.

There are enough indications from all this of an illegal betting syndicate or network of syndicates centred in South Asia (mainly the Indian cities of Mumbai and Delhi, but also with probable links in Lahore and Karachi), but the matter hasn’t really taken off. Certainly, no heads have rolled. Cynics tend to interpret this as a conspiracy of silence from the ICC and law-enforcement agencies, accusing them of cowardice against a fearsome gambling mafia. No one knows the whole truth, but hopefully it will emerge in time. Cricket lovers should be prepared for the worst, because it could be unimaginably explosive.

Other issues discussed in the book include an England Test player smuggling cocaine (Chris Lewis, who was sentenced to a 13-year prison term in 2009); income tax corruption and auction rigging in the Indian Premier League; Australian stars Shane Warne and Mark Waugh accepting cash to assist an Indian bookie; allegations of illegal drug use by cricket legends Ian Botham and Viv Richards; the case of England player Dermot Reeve doing Test match television commentary while under the influence of cocaine; and the mysterious death of Hansie Cronje, South Africa’s shamed ex-captain who is still the only man to have confessed to match-fixing in cricket.

Radford’s book may be short on analysis, but it makes up for it with extensive and detailed reporting and review. There are moments when the discussion is simply crying out for opinionated speculation, but it never comes. If Radford is tempted to judge, he does not show it. Yet the book still very much delivers a lively punch. In assembling this litany of crimes and transgressions, Brian Radford has performed an important service to the game.