Manoj Prabhakar's statement that he was offered money to queer the pitch in Sri Lanka has finally focused attention on cricket's dark underbelly. It has long been an open secret that the betting business influences the outcome of international matches and, as Prabhakar himself has said, there were so many accurate rumours doing the rounds during the 1987 World Cup that they left him wondering. Now, the time for mere wondering is clearly over. If the BCCI wants Indian cricket to stay in business, it must find ways to enforce probity among the players it selects. It is odd that eyebrows are not raised when cricketers maintain a large fleet of premium cars, or when they indulge in other forms of conspicuous consumption. An asset disclosure criterion for selection can go a long way in pumping most of the slush out of the system.

Let us be perfectly clear on the status of our cricketers. They are indeed stars of the order of Ruud Gullit or Michael Jordan, but they are not stars in their own right. They enjoy their status only by virtue of representing India in the international arena. Had they represented clubs or local teams like Arsenal or the Baltimore Orioles, their personal interest in team performance would have been of interest only to the owners and managers of those teams. But, since these cricketers belong to a national side, their interest is of very immediate interest to the nation. A little transparency would be in order, because where they get their money from could have a lot to do with how they perform on the pitch. It will no longer do, for instance, for players to explain away their cars as gifts from grateful and supportive NRIs. In any case, NRIs are not exactly the leading philanthropists of this world, so the reasons for their gratefulness and support ought to be spelled out.

It has always been understood that a cricket match cannot be fixed by bribing only one player. The poor performance of an individual would stand out like a sore thumb, and neither the fans nor the Press is likely to be forgiving. And anyway, it is difficult for one individual, even the captain, to play a decisive role in a team sport. The only other way -- to bribe the captains of both teams and get the toss fixed -- lets even more people in on the secret. Since so many players are involved, it should not be particularly difficult to find out when they do the dirty. All it would take is some commitment from the regulators, and the honesty to admit that there is a problem. Once cases are detected, they should also have the courage to drop the players involved from the team. Slush money in sport is as damaging as drug abuse and the response should be correspondingly stringent. Instead of keeping the graft issue under wraps, the BCCI could also try and go in for some player education. Players should understand that they make a few hundred times more money than any middle-class professional. They ought to be content with that, not sully their reputations by accepting bookie money. Or by hiring themselves out as the piece de resistance at NRI dinners.y

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.