There are few things that help a malaise spread like unimaginative problem-solving

Anand Vasu15-May-2001There are few things that help a malaise spread like unimaginative problem-solving. And if the reports on the recommendations of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit are correct, then its head, Sir Paul Condon, has shown thus far that, despite his record as a no-nonsense cop, he simply does not have even the most basic understanding of the game of cricket. Add to this the fact that Condon has attempted to apply the most unimaginative fixes to a complex problem and you have a recipe for disaster. According to the reports, the former head of Scotland Yard has recommended that the records of three former captains found guilty of match-fixing related offences – Salim Malik, Hansie Cronje and Mohammed Azharuddin – obliterated from all the record books.Firstly, Condon must ask himself what authority the International Cricket Council (ICC) has to demand that the record-keepers of the game – the CricInfos, the Wisdens, the Bill Frindalls, the Mohandas Menons of the world – re-write its history and statistics to expunge the names of those who have stained its reputation. The answer is that the ICC has no right vis-a-vis what the statisticians do and do not publish. They can recommend that names and events get struck from the record… but what happens if nobody listens to them? And what happens if they do?Well, just let us assume for a fleeting instant, that a moment of temporary weakness leads someone to believe that the purging of records is the right way to go. Let us go back or a moment to 1986-87 season when India took on Sri Lanka at Kanpur. With five wickets down, Azharuddin was joined by Kapil Dev at the crease. The pair added 272 for the sixth wicket, with the Hyderabadi stylist notching up a career best 199. So what would that scorecard look like after Condon’s statisticians have had a go at it?Partnership for the sixth wicket between ********** & Kapil Dev – 272.Now that’s a good start. Let’s move on to his record as a batsman. Please debit Indian cricket to the total of 6215 Test runs and 9378 one-day runs. That has a rather adverse effect on only 99 Test matches and 334 one-day internationals. So, retrospectively speaking, India will be declared losers of half those games? What about the catches that Azharuddin took, with unnerving accuracy and stunning reflexes in the slip cordon? Not one or two catches Sir Paul, there’s 261 of them in international cricket. Now hang on a minute, if those catches weren’t taken, the batsmen dismissed in those cases might very well ask to have a not out sign against their names. Would do wonders for their averages!Actually if Condon’s recommendation was implemented, only one solution would be feasible – remove all trace of those matches ever occurring. Oh, and when you’re finished with Azhar and the Indians you can take your scrub and head for Malik and Cronje and take the Pakistanis and South Africans to the cleaners as well.But hang on a minute. Let’s not be too hard on Sir Paul Condon. His job is an unenviable one. The problem is complex, widespread, systemic, run by some very slick operators and very non standard. Why then does Condon think it can be solved by waving a magic wand and making things disappear? A quick examination of some of the other recommendations suggests that the former crime buster might well be barking up the wrong tree.A recommendation for higher pay and bigger prize money for cricketers, to reduce temptation? Does Condon realise how much Cronje and Azharuddin make through the game of cricket? What with generous incentives and endorsements thrown in. Or perhaps, the future millionaires of cricket, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, who for a mere $4000-5000 apiece succumbed to getting involved with bookies? By the same logic, we should raise the salaries of tax evaders to make them more honest citizens.Condon goes on to add that he would like to make all players sign forms that will make them susceptible to prosecution if they indulge in matchfixing. Does Condon seriously think that players don’t know that they will be prosecuted if they commit a crime? Or does he think for a fleeting moment that courts will not prosecute someone without permission from the ICC?Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, the preliminary reports go on to recommend that mobile phones be outlawed from dressing rooms. I doubt there’s anyone in the world who believes that somehow mobile phones were instrumental in the fixing of matches. Sure, it makes it easier. Then again so does televising of cricket matches live. Perhaps we should ban that as well. And hey, gasoline is reportedly the most commonly used substance in the making of ‘Molotov cocktails’, those flaming bottles that everyone has seen hurled in riots. They have caused immeasurable damage to property and lives in the course of history. Perhaps we should ban gasoline as well. Or the matchstick that lit the fire?There is one way and one way only to beat this problem. Eliminate the demand. It’s a proven fact in the narcotics trade. As long as there are drug users, there will be pushers and peddlers. As long as there are pushers and peddlers, there will be drug cartels. So long as there is a demand, there will always be someone either crooked enough or desperate enough to ensure there’s a supply. What has Sir Paul Condon done in this regard?Precious little.In the name of being innovative, let us not fritter away any chances of tackling this problem once and for all.