Money, a Curse for Cricket

Piyush Basnet

Allison Campbell

ENG 102

11/15/2017

Money, a curse for cricket.

        Cricket is one of the unique sports played in this world. It was invented by the English in the 18th century. Though it was invented and started to play from the 18th century, it was played as an international sport. Cricket was flourished all over the world in the 19th and 20th centuries (Britain Express). Until the beginning the 21st century, cricket was regarded as one of the downgraded sports and its popularity was not compared with the sports like soccer and basketball. Then something good happened in cricket. That thing gave cricket a brand new look and new values, which it was missing before. That thing was money. From the beginning of the 21st century, sponsors which were seen in soccer and basketball also financed their money in cricket. After the involvement of money in cricket, cricket was never the same like before. Involvement of money brought many changes in cricket. Cricket was not a downgraded sport anymore, and popularity of cricket was compared with soccer and basketball. More countries became interested in cricket and joined International Cricket Council (ICC). The number of cricket fans increased exponentially. Cricket was revolutionized and this was due to money. Likewise, money brought many problems in cricket such as corruption, match-fixing, and tax fraud. Cricket was changed, and it was never like before. Money brought a new era in cricket and this era was also influenced by evils like corruption and scandals. Money ruined cricket by causing those evils. People involved in the cricket community should be responsible regarding those issues and more cautions should be taken against the corrupted activities. Cricket Council should be reformed by the wise and trustworthy people, who can make and regulate strict rules in cricket to prohibit scandals and frauds.

        Cricket was originated in south-east England (Britain Express). Later on, it became the national sport of England in the 18th century (Britain Express). During that time England was known as the world power and colonized many countries of the world including the United States. The English were very fond of cricket and they started to play cricket outside England i.e.in colonial England. Like England, Australia also declared cricket as their national sport. But cricket was more flourished in the Indian subcontinent area than the other colonial regions of England. At first, only members of royal families and their associates were allowed to play cricket for fun. But as the time went on, cricket was developed as a competitive sport rather than a sport played for fun. Cricket developed globally in the 19th and 20th centuries. Now, cricket is the world’s second most popular spectator sport after soccer (BBC NEWS). This is a great achievement for all cricketing teams and their associates, and cricket fans. But to achieve that second spot was not an easy journey. Cricket is also known as a “game of gentlemen” because cricket was played in a disciplined way and with mutual respect. For many years, cricket maintained that status to be called the game of gentlemen. The 1990s and 2000s were the greatest eras. This era also brought some of the biggest issues in the history of cricket that people have ever seen and it is impossible for the future generation to bring back the quality of cricket which was during those twenty years because in those twenty years the world witnessed some of the finest players of cricket history. But it was also the time when scandals started to occur in cricket. India played a home series against South Africa in 1999-2000 (ESPN). Right after the series concluded, Delhi Police came up with some startling revelations and evidences that clearly suggested that there were financial transactions involved between some cricketers and bookmakers (or bookies), probably with the intention of altering the course of the matches. Delhi police wanted to interrogate some players from either team. However, the South African Government didn't allow their players to talk to Indian authorities. A few days later, Hansie Cronje, a South African cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s, admitted to taking money from bookmakers to underperform, to throw matches and also to influence other players in the team to do the same (ESPN). He was immediately banned from cricket. He also named Mohammad Azharuddin (Indian Captain), Ajay Jadeja (Indian player) and Saleem Malik (Pakistan) as players who had in some way or the other connected him to the bookies. Taking the cue from Cronje's statement, the investigating team found evidences against all these three players and they too were banned from cricket. Later Azharuddin confessed that he took money to throw matches (The Telegraph).

        As the time went on, cricket changed its format. From a game played for an endless time period, it was reduced to three hour games and this format game was named as T20. This format was introduced for the first time in the mid-2000s (Britain Express). T20 lead to the formation of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which would be the most famous and wealthy league of cricket all over the world (Indian Premier League: Anything but cricket). IPL was a huge success for all the cricketing nations as they were paid by Indian cricket board to send their player to play in IPL. The problem was raised by IPL too and the many cricket nation’s boards were involved in scandals and frauds. Board of Control of Cricket India (BCCI) is one of the richest sporting bodies in the world with revenues totaling more than $200 million annually (The Times of India). The BCCI claims status as a charitable organization and only recently began paying taxes on its vast income. Board members seem more interested in lining their pockets and ascending the organization’s hierarchy than in regulating the sport or improving governance. The committee, which was formed to improve and support cricket was creating problems in cricket. Similarly, IPL was meant to be a platform for young players to show their capability and talent in front of the world but the problems such as match-fixing and illegal betting made IPL one of the worst sporting leagues ever played. In 2015, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have been found guilty in an illegal betting and match-fixing probe (BBC NEWS). These are the two biggest teams in the league and have won the league at least once. This was a temporary ban for both the teams and they will return to the league in 2018 (BBC NEWS). The players involved in the match-fixing and betting were not disclosed. Only the teams were not allowed to play in the league and the players were sold to different clubs and were able to play IPL. This was one of the worst ideas to stop match-fixing as the culprits were allowed to play again but the clubs were only banned. Similarly, Lalit Modi, the person who created IPL and was the chairman of IPL was accused of tax fraud in 2010 (Huffington Post). He went from a billionaire to a fugitive. The person who created an idea of promoting and improving cricket was corrupted by the power of money. These scandals and problems occurred in cricket were all related to money. Money served as a curse for cricket.

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