To my wife, Jill, for her remarkable patience and support, and Toby, Rebecca, John, Emili and Faye
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Foreword
1. Panic and prayers at Condon’s Anti-corruption Unit offices
2. How England sweetly licked the Aussies!
3. Bob Woolmer: poisoned or natural causes?
4. Disgraced Pakistan trio put their feet in it
5. Indian gangster approaches Aussie stars
6. Banned for blowing whistle on corruption
7. Richards and Botham go to pot…
8. Sweaty Atherton has dust on his hands
9. The mysterious life and death of Hansie Cronje
10. Brave Hair brushes aside Oval walkout chaos
11. England star turns cocaine smuggler
12. Top bookie names his dressing-room contacts
13. Santa Stanford gets the sack – and prison
14. Lawyer blasts Warne and Waugh for helping Indian bookie
15. Tax probes and ‘fixing’ in the IPL
16. Petrified star flees for his life
17. Cocaine commentator accused of Bradman scam
18. ICC plants ‘moles’ to snare cheats
19. Cool Cook plays down Ashes ‘cheat’ storm
20. England win was rigged, rants ace bowler
21. 2011: Death threats, gambling gangs, lie-detectors, police swoops and a ‘fix’
Epilogue
Copyright
By Darrell Hair
It is not often that a book about sport, and cricket in particular, delivers on all its promises and publicity. This book is one of those exceptions.
My career in cricket umpiring, and a lifetime in the game, has time and time again, told me that many people within it have an opinion about its dark side – the cheating and under-performing for financial reward, which provides a fraudulent contest for those who genuinely believe they are watching a match that is being played, and won or lost, on its merits.
But when push comes to shove, few players, if any, are willing to say exactly what they know, or think, for fear of retribution from apathetic and ignorant administrators, or fearing that they will be ostracised by team-mates and driven from the game.
It is a shame when cricket administrators treat allegations of corrupt behaviour with apathy or absolute fear. One reason for this attitude could be the thought of their game being dragged through the mud and may, in the eyes of the public, ruin the values and spirit of the game that have been inherent in the culture of cricket for more than 280 years.
Cricket’s unique appeal has always been the willingness of players to accept an umpire’s decision, show respect for the laws of the game and its traditional values, and to believe that cheating has no part in it.
In the modern game, this spirit has sadly often been abused by unruly behaviour from players, open dissent towards decisions by umpires, and the advent of much more sinister behaviour in playing corruptly by manipulating the game for financial benefit.
It is this corrupt behaviour, and there can be no other words for it, that Brian Radford’s book exposes, and cuts to the bone. The very core of the game has suffered because a greedy few have exploited cricket and, in doing so, produced a fraud on the public – the very people whose support the professional player of the 21st century relies upon so heavily.
On the pages of this book, you will discover how the Anti-corruption Unit, which is run by the International Cricket Council, was continually frustrated by a conspiracy of silence, even though overwhelming evidence existed of illegal betting on such mundane things as the outcome of the toss for choice of innings.
The depth of unsavoury behaviour also extended to information being divulged to bookmakers, as to who would open the bowling in a particular match, and from which end of the ground.
Further startling revelations emerged as to how pitches were doctored midway through a match to ensure certain results, and how the ever-present metal bottle top was used by some players to scratch the ball to make it swing even more.
Corrupt behaviour and blatant cheating are to be abhorred. Immoral behaviour strikes at the very heart of our game. I took a stand in trying to stamp out such behaviour, and my reward was to be ostracised by the International Cricket Council, which later watered down its rules on ball-tampering, and dissent at an umpire’s decision.
Cricket should be sacrosanct. But it never will be, unless participants and administrators band together to stamp out corruption.
Brian Radford’s book goes a long way to exposing the manner in which the game has been infected. His exposé about the past may, hopefully, ensure that the game is cleansed of the greed and corruption, so that its future, and the future of its players, is beyond reproach. We must certainly hope so.
Darrell Hair,
Executive Officer,
NSW Cricket Umpires & Scorers Association Inc.
Darrell Hair is a distinguished Australian umpire who reached the peak of his profession when the International Cricket Council appointed him to its Elite panel. He officiated in 73 Test matches and 135 One-day Internationals before he retired in 2008, and was highly acclaimed for his fairness and integrity.
PANIC AND PRAYERS AT CONDON’S ANTI-CORRUPTION UNIT OFFICES
Lord Condon’s highly expensive Anti-corruption and Security Unit was set up in a plush office in south-west London in September 2001, funded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to a reported £2 million. Condon, a former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, had been appointed three months earlier as Director of the Unit with a remit to recruit the best team of available investigators to mastermind and launch a worldwide search for the cheats and crooks who were corrupting international cricket matches, and had being doing so systematically for at least 20 years.
A former chief superintendent from New Scotland Yard was appointed senior investigator, and two other former high-ranking detectives were added to the team, along with a security adviser, a systems manager to establish an intelligence database, and a full-time secretary, who acted as office manager.
Condon was directly accountable to Malcolm Gray, President of the ICC, and he began his mammoth task by stressing that confidence in world cricket would be restored only if there was open and frank analysis of past problems, and a resolve to confront the challenges which continued to threaten the integrity and reputation of the game.
No punches were pulled as Condon lashed out at corrupt practices and deliberate under-performing by players that had permeated cricket at all levels across the world, additionally emphasising that a full-blown resurgence was a real and probable threat.
Silence, apathy, ignorance and absolute fear greeted Condon’s clean-up squad as they quickly realised that