Indian bookie approached Aus cricketers

As details of the sensational betting scandal concerning the Pakistan cricket team continue to make front page headlines on a daily basis, the role of a suspected Mumbai-based gangster, linked to illegal Indian bookmakers, is featured prominently.

The latest is the disclosure today by Australian players Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin and Shane Watson who gave the ICC, the game's highest authority, the identity and mobile phone numbers of a match-fixing cheat who approached them at the team hotel bar at the last ICC Twenty20 tournament in London. The ICC ostensibly paid no heed to the information.

The man, said to be a likeable, well-spoken Indian fan with intimate knowledge of the players' performances, especially Lee in the IPL, is said to have approached the Australian players in the team hotel bar and boldly knocked at the door of Brad Haddin at 11 pm to invite him to his room for dinner.

Briefed in advance by Cricket Australia to be careful of such advances, the players not only declined but reported the matter to manager Steve Bernard, who included the happenings in his report to the ICC.

The ICC is said to have done nothing about the matter leading to strident criticism of the august body, with some critics suggesting that the India-controlled body (which has Sharad Pawar as president) was both incompetent and unwilling to do anything to police the game because of vested interests.

Some Australian critics, incensed at the opposition by the Asian bloc to former Australian Prime Minister John Howard's nomination as next ICC president, have even suggested that Australia, England and New Zealand should opt out of the ICC and form their own controlling body as a means to "cleanse" the game.

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