Fears scourge of cricket corruption could spread to domestic competitions

International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat made his comments during the lunch interval on the second day of the first Test between England and Pakistan in Dubai.

He expressed his confidence that, should there be any concern over the legality of any bowler’s action, match officials are well-equipped to act as they see fit.

Lorgat emphasised in particular, though, his fear that – following ICC bans and then jail sentences for three Pakistanis proven to have been involved in spot-fixing corruption in 2010 – the scourge may move from international to domestic competitions.

“You cannot avoid the spot-fixing issue. That was perhaps the most significant challenge I was faced with,” he said of his tenure, which is due to end this summer.

Only last week, former Essex bowler Mervyn Westfield pleaded guilty to a corruption charge and the England and Wales Cricket Board have since announced a period of amnesty for any players to come forward with suspicions or information they think may be significant.

“You cannot over-estimate the value of protecting your integrity, and the reputation of the game,” said Lorgat. “If that was to go we’ve got no game. It would be the most significant issue we have to tackle. I think we’ve shown we will not rest until we do tackle this issue.

“I don’t believe it is as widespread as some people might make it out to be.

“Certainly the evidence that we’ve seen does not suggest that.

“But I’ve got a particular concern that the fact that we’ve tightened it up around the international circuit does mean it’s possible that it could be moving down to the domestic scene.”

Lorgat is impressed with ECB anti-corruption policy, and believes other national boards should take note.

“It’s a cost, sure,” he said. “The ECB have formed the ‘access unit’ and they’ve formulated process and capability to combat it at domestic level – because if you get rid of it you don’t get rid of it forever.”

As for the matter of illegal deliveries – there were mutterings from former England captain Bob Willis while Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was taking a career-best 7-55 – Lorgat believes rules which permit the arm to be straightened by 15 degrees and umpires’ expertise will mean true instances will be spotted.

“You’ve got the match officials here, and if they believe there is reason to cite him they will do so,” he said. “I’m confident with the process we’ve got in place.

“It’s quite a tight process, and we’ve got to allow that to take its course.”