Since last Six months, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has converted Sri Lanka Cricket into a laboratory, where the cricket’s governing body is doing all sorts of experiments : they have been conducting various investigations related to match fixing, corruption and even launched an amnesty and established an office in Colombo. However, ICC’s cup is still bare and as it couldn’t justify its presence in Sri Lanka, there is a strong sentiment taking shape. People’s in Sri Lanka cricket are now questioning the methods of ICC Anti–corruption unit investigation (as they are treating players like criminals) and seeing it like the unit official’s are searching for terrorists!
Incident 1: Few months ago, the ICC Anti-corruption unit official’s took one former Sri Lanka player under their custody when he was parking his car. Within few seconds, they snatched mobile phone of the player and took him to the animal unknown place for further investigation. When the player requested to make a call to his wife, Anti corruption unit officials told him to talk to his wife in English only, so they could also understand. However, Player told them that his wife can’t speak or understand English, so he would have to talk to her in Sinhala. Anti corruption unit officials didn’t allow it and treated him like a criminal. Six months on, the ICC Anti-corruption unit could not find anything against that player.
Incident 2: A young fast bowler, Who has played handful of matches for Sri Lanka and has impressed big time, was practicing for the match. Suddenly, ICC Anti-corruption unit officials arrived, took him under their custody and snatched his mobile phone. Few hours later, they took him to another place for questioning and straightway fired plethora of questions. However, as the player can’t speak or understand English, he found himself in helpless situation. Months have been passed since then, but anti corruption unit are yet to find something suspicious about that fast bowler.
The above mentioned incidents proves that ICC Anti-corruption unit is not following the right procedure to do the investigation against match fixing and corruption in Sri Lanka. Instead of focusing on their job secretly, the anti corruption unit officials are making it like a dramatic Bollywood movie. More worryingly, their method of investing is destroying the reputation of those players, Who were questioned by them.
“ICC anti corruption unit is doing unnecessary practices in Sri Lanka. Even if police, in a democratic nation, conducts inquiry, they present all the proofs before the suspicious. ICC Anti-corruption unit is not following this simplest of rule even. They are just catching players here and there that too without any evidence” a former player told Cricket Age.
Not only this, by unethical investigation method, the anti corruption unit officials are destroying the reputation of players big time. In subcontinent particularly, if a player name comes in any sort of inquiry, he tends to be labeled as a match fixer, irrespective of his involvement or innocence. People’s, without wasting a second, frames him as a culprit.
“As soon as the news spreads that a certain player was summoned by ICC Anti-corruption unit, people’s starts to see him as a suspect. That’s the nature of subcontinent people’s. In this scenario, the player is bound to suffer and face humiliation, even if he has done nothing wrong” a current Sri Lanka player told Cricket Age.
Most importantly, ICC Anti-corruption unit has no outcome to justify their ‘treat players like criminals’ methods. Even after six month long exercise in Sri Lanka, the unit could only charge legendary Sanath Jayasuriya, that too of charges for not cooperating! There were no corruption or match fixing charges against Jayasuriya. Moreover, Jayasuriya’s matter had made the headlines in Sri Lanka, even before anti corruption unit had started their investigation in Sri Lanka.
After disastrous six months of investigation, where anti corruption unit could not clean up Sri Lanka cricket even by a percent, now onus is on the governing body to justify its investigations!
