Pay cricketers more to keep them honest — MCC chairman

“The ICC clearly needs to do something about match-fixing because we all share the passion for cricket and the game can only progress if it is clean,” he said.

Once called a gentleman’s game, cricket has been rocked this year by allegations of match rigging, forcing the ICC to form an anti-corruption body.

“All cricket boards need to increase the pay scale of their players within the available income,” he said.

“It is also up to the respective boards to accept ICC’s recommendations about match-fixing. It’s not in the ICC’s jurisdiction to take action against any particular player involved in this malpractice,” he said.

Weedon said the MCC could not formulate laws on match-fixing. “The MCC’s job is to frame cricket laws and any disciplinary laws are made only by the ICC,” he said.

Aussies want more money

SYDNEY: Australia’s top Test and one-day cricketers should be on salaries of up to $1 million (US $530,000) a year, according to a survey of the Nation’s elite players.

The poll of 145 players taken at the end of last season shows 81 per cent think Australian Cricket Board-contracted players, like Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath, should earn between 500,000 and 1 million dollars.

More than a third feel the minimum salary for such players should be more than the current 80,000 dollars.

The 18-page questionaire, published in The Australian

newspaper today, also showed that half the nation’s first class cricketers believe the top-rated state players should earn double their current 50,000 dollar base salary.

Terms for Marsh yet to be finalised

MUMBAI: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) secretary Jaywant Lele said here on Friday that the terms and conditions of former Aussie opener Geoff Marsh’s assignment as the consultant of the junior India teams is yet to be finalised.

Lele told PTI from Baroda over telephone that the board appointed Marsh as the consultant.

“But the terms and conditions are yet to be finalised and it will take some time for us to do so,” he added.

Meanwhile, Indian ace leg spinner Anil Kumble, who has missed the Test series against the visiting Zimbabweans due to shoulder pain, is yet to produce the fitness certificate to the board.

“Kumble has not yet produced the fitness certificate butwe are hopeful that he will do so before the team for the five one-dayers against Zimbabwe is announced,” Lele added.

Tendulkar, McGrath best

SYDNEY: India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Australia’s Glenn McGrath have been rated the best in the business in a survey of Australia’s 145 first class players.

Sixty eight per cent of those questioned said Tendulkar was the World’s best batsman ahead of Australian captain Steve Waugh (27 per cent) and West Indian Brian Lara (three per cent).

Australian paceman McGrath was the runaway winner as the player’s choice of World’s best bowler with 61 per cent of the vote.

Shane Warne was second and Curtley Ambrose of the West Indies third.

Steve Waugh was rated Australia’s best cricketer ahead of McGrath and Warne. Surpisingly, Adam Gilchrist got the nod as the top one-day Ausralian player ahead of Michael Beven and Ricky Ponting.

Almost half of those questioned said they had no confidence in the International Cricket Council’s ability to run the game on a global scale.

Mixed reaction from Azhar on CBI report

HYDERABAD: Mohammed Azharuddin’s 12-page statement to cricket Board’s watchdog K Madhavan was the subject of considerable speculation on Friday, with authoritative sources saying that he had confirmed certain parts of the CBI report on betting and match-fixing.

However, the former India captain had, at the same time, refuted certain contents of the CBI report which had painted him as a key figure in the scandal.

The sources denied reports that Azhar had termed the entire match-fixing scandal as a conspiracy against him by some former teammates.

Madhavan, a former CBI Joint Director who questioned Azhar for six hours, left thereafter for Delhi where he will question former Delhi captain Ajay Sharma on Saturday.