Lord MacLaurin wants Dalmiya downwards to be probed

Lord MacLaurin wants Dalmiya downwards to be probed
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

LONDON, MAY 1: International Cricket Council (ICC) President Jagmohan Dalmiya is under scrutiny with a London daily quoting England Cricket Board (ECB) President Lord MacLaurin as saying that administrators ``President downwards'' should also be investigated.

Raising the heat on Dalmiya is his friend-turned-foe, Inderjit Singh Bindra, who has arrived in London and is seeking an invitation to the ICC meeting. Only presidents and secretaries are empowered to represent their respective Boards and it is highly unlikely that Bindra will be permitted to attend the meeting, despite claims that he can provide evidence of corrupt practices. The former chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made allegations of corrupt practices by Indian players and claimed the BCCI did nothing despite his raising the issue many times.

That Bindra is not in any mood to compromise was evident from a statement issued in India through the Punjab Cricket Association -- of which he is the president -- in which he emphatically denied rumours that he had withdrawn his stand in a letter to BCCI President AC Muthiah and tendered an apology.

Dungarpur to represent India: India will be represented at the meeting by former BCCI President Rajsingh Dungarpur, who is rushing to London after Board President AC Muthiah was forced to return after reaching Frankfurt following his mother's death in Chennai.

The ICC emergency meeting is to discuss the betting and match-fixing controversy and is likely to adopt a stringent code for players designed ``to restore former standards of fairplay'' in the game.

The two-day ICC meeting at Lord's from Tuesday is likely to deliberate on three main points as administrators discuss ways to stop corruption in the game.

The meeting is expected ratify a new code of law produced after worldwide consultation and containing important changes designed to stem the rot. The codes are due to be ratified on the final day of the meeting.

The other issues high on the agenda will be the damage to the game's stature in the wake of the scandal involving sacked South African skipper Hansie Cronje and a proposal to grant amnesty to players providing information on corruption in the game.

A proposal to involve present international players, umpires and referees for an effective solution to corruption in the game and limiting every country to fixed number of Tests and One-Day Internationals annually is also expected to be carried through.

The game's administrators consider the current issue as the most damaging one faced by ICC since it was formed in 1909, certainly since Kerry Packer held the old order to ransom with his breakaway series of matches in the 1970's.

The difficulty for the ICC will be to distinguish rumour from fact and, to this end, Chief Executive David Richards has floated the idea of an amnesty for players presenting evidence of corruption.

In a transcript of a television interview to be broadcast on Monday, Richards said an amnesty might be the way to move forward.

``We might have to do that in a discreet fashion,'' Richards said.`` We might have to give an amnesty for people to bring forward that information.''

Anything would be better than the present corrosive climate of mistrust, innuendo and suspicion.

The meeting is also expected to discuss unsubstantiated claims by former England all-rounder Chris Lewis that he was told three of his country's players were corrupt.

UCB managing director Ali Bacher has described the current controversy as ``a massive international sport crisis'' and demanded that the scourge of match-fixing be ``nipped in the bud''.