It has been left to the ACU to substantiate those claims.Condon may find that beyond him, and despite his repeated assurances to the contrary it remains difficult to envisage many, or indeed, any past wrongdoers being brought to book. More pressing is what the ICC describe as “the extent and current status of the problem.” It is being openly suggested that two of the recent one-dayers between New Zealand and Pakistan were not entirely above board If that proves to be true it is desperately worrying. It is unthinkable in the existing climate that any player would dare to give his mobile phone number to a bookie, let alone take money.There are two key proposals that Condon will surely make but which the ICC have resolutely resisted. Too many meaningless internationals have been played in too many places not traditionally associated with cricket. It might be in the interests of globalisation of the game, whatever that is, but as the Indian report stated: “There is a carnival-like atmosphere at these venues”.Since there clearly remains an appetite for one-day cricket, and since television audiences cannot get enough of the stuff, some way must be found to invest tournaments with greater seriousness. Perhaps the ICC could become responsible for all tournaments, perhaps it might be worth floating the idea of a World Cup every two years, with more matches, therefore, having an effect on seeding in the main tournament.Since agreeing to establish the ACU, the officers of the ICC have spoken often and touchingly about their desire to clean up the game.

Six weeks tomorrow ­ hardly before time ­ they should finally put their money where their mouth is.. As the new captain of Pakistan spoke about laying the past to rest it was impossible to ignore the truth that his own career had risen from the dead. As the new captain of Pakistan spoke about laying the past to rest it was impossible to ignore the truth that his own career had risen from the dead.
Waqar Younis sat there delivering well-modulated, well-meant platitudes about where his side might go from here and the direction in which he intended to take them, and yet barely six months ago he was a washed-up fast bowler.It has been some comeback, and if it continues over the next two months, England, on any sort of pitch that might come along, will regret his renaissance and will have their plans for the rest of the summer radically impaired. Yet when Waqar was omitted from Pakistan’s squad for the First Test match against England last October it looked to be the culmination of a gradual fall from grace.He had already slipped and slid considerably since the great days when he and Wasim Akram had formed the most menacing partnership in the world, one of the most fearsome of all time, with new ball and old. But Waqar was increasingly left out of the side in the late Nineties. He also fell out with his former accomplice, and blamed Wasim, no less, for ruining his career. “He is a great cricketer and I respect him as a cricketer, but I cannot call him a great human being,” Waqar said 18 months ago.Not long after that, he was caught up in his country’s match-rigging investigation, and was one of six players fined for refusing to co-operate.

This is not necessarily a climactic impediment to further international honours, but it was all Waqar needed.Then, last July, just when it seemed as though he was being restored to the team (with Wasim having gone as captain), he became the first player to be banned for ball tampering. The Pakistan Board were angry about the conviction and the punishment but the television evidence ­ Waqar looked to be scratching the ball and picking the quarter seam in a one-day international against South Africa ­ was pretty damning.Waqar had not been married long, and come October and yet another omission it looked as if he was being offered the chance to spend more time with his family ­ probably the rest of his life. This was to underestimate Pakistan cricket’s ability both for internal dissent and for changing its mind.By the end of the England series, it was Wasim who was out of the side, and whether his back injury was a matter of convenience or not, Waqar was back. By the time the side had finished their tour of New Zealand in March, the captain, Moin Khan, was also gone Waqar was summoned.