Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Nov 16: Every team playing international cricket in the 1990s has indulged in match fixing at some point or the other, said former ICC anti-corruption unit chief Paul Condon, raising a storm in cricketing circles.

As reported by a London newspaper, Condon said that match fixing was prevalent not in the sub-continent alone, but that every international team fixed matches regularly in the 1990s, especially during World Cups and tests matches.

"In the late 1990s, Test and World Cup matches were being routinely fixed. From the late Eighties certainly through to 1999-2000 there were a number of teams involved in fixing, and certainly more than the Indian sub-continent teams were involved," Evening Standard quoted the 64-year-old Condon as saying.

He also said that players were aware of what was going on, but did nothing about it.

"A whole generation of cricketers playing in the late 1990s must've known what was going on and did nothing. When they look back on their careers, a bit of shame must creep in. The last fixes of whole matches, or even series, were probably in 2001 before we'd really got the anti-corruption unit going."

As to spot fixing, for which three Pakistani players have been found guilty and jailed, Condon felt that it might have started during the World Cup in 2003.

"In one group match during a couple of overs two guys suddenly went from scoring runs in double figures to just ones and twos. For spot fixing, that's all you need. From 2003 spot fixing became the name of the game," he said.

He added that there have been cases where some Pakistani players were afraid to divulge information but still assisted the anti-corruption unit.

"We had this Pakistani cricketer who was genuinely frightened that if he had revealed what he knew, there would be repercussions on his family. He was a very valuable informant. We flew him from Pakistan at the ICC's expense and put him up in safe accommodation in London for about a week while we debriefed him."

He made another claim - that match fixing began in the United Kingdom with County teams fixing friendly leagues. He however added that County teams did not do it for money.

"It started with friendly fixes in the UK in the old Sunday leagues. Over a weekend you'd have a county side playing their county match and then a Sunday league match and there would be friendly fixes, not for money but for manipulating places in the leagues," he said.

Condon led the ICC's anti-corruption unit set up after former South African captain Hansie Cronje's name emerged in the scandal in 2000.