Michael Atherton, courtesy of The Times and The Weekend Australian 17-18 december 2011
GIVEN the scandals that have enveloped the game since the veil was lifted on the activities of several players during the 1990s, it is only natural that when the word “corruption” is uttered, attention falls on the cricketers themselves. Transparency International, an organisation committed to challenging corruption worldwide, made an important contribution to clearing up some of those misconceptions this week.
Cricket is not the kind of playing field that TI normally steps on to, but it was encouraged to do so partly by the wide-ranging nature of the consultation over the ICC’s governance review that closed last week. TI released a number of recommendations for the ICC to consider before the publication of the review, the most important of which was to remind people that on-field corruption is just a small part – albeit the most damaging part – of the temptations that envelop the game as a whole. Continue reading