The International Cricket Council (ICC) is worried that franchise cricket all over the world is prone to being exploited by match-fixers and betting parties. The governing body at present is having its annual general meeting and executive meetings in Edinburgh, Scotland, and there it seeks to find solutions. The leagues in new destinations are particularly vulnerable. BBC Sport said on Thursday: “In documentation seen by BBC Sport, the ICC’s integrity unit have reported there is ‘growing evidence’ that corrupters were ‘infiltrating leagues and players across a number of different member territories’.
“The ICC are now planning to establish a working party which will seek to harmonise franchise cricket within the international calendar and examine how corruption could be tackled more effectively.
“As part of the steps taken to mitigate the concerns, the ICC’s executive committee will discuss a number of wider strategies during their ongoing annual general meeting (AGM) in Edinburgh.”
Also Read: India are losing because Jasprit Bumrah is not there, simple as you like
The ICC is also planning to be stricter when it approves a domestic league. Under current regulations, a non-full country can have a league of its own provided it features more than four cricketers from full members, and they have represented their national sides within 24 months. As one can see, it’s quite easy to launch a league with that regulation in place.
Canada and USA suspended!
Early last month, the ICC suspended Cricket Canada. Among many reasons, match manipulation was a prominent one, although it wasn’t brought up in the ICC statement. Last year, it had done the same with Cricket USA. France and Italy are also under the scanner over issues there, of one type or another. “The ICC Board resolved to suspend Cricket Canada from ICC membership with immediate effect due to serious breaches of its membership obligations. In taking this decision, the ICC Board was mindful of the importance of protecting the interests of Canadian players and ensuring they are not disadvantaged by the governance issues affecting the national governing body.
“Accordingly, Canadian national representative teams will continue to be eligible to participate in ICC events during the period of suspension. To support the continued participation and development of the national teams, Cricket Canada will be permitted to access ICC funding through a controlled funding mechanism, under the oversight of ICC management, solely for approved national team programmes.
“The ICC will also provide Cricket Canada with a set of reinstatement conditions aimed at addressing the governance and administrative issues identified by the Board. The progress against these conditions will be monitored by the ICC Normalisation Committee, supported by ICC management, with reinstatement of membership subject to the Board being satisfied that the conditions have been fully met,” the ICC said in a statement last month.
In good news for Mauritius, the East African country is set to become a new ICC member. They met all the ICC criteria, which Colombia, Poland, Latvia, Burundi and Burkina Faso didn’t.