Thread: World Cup 2007

interesting, but nothing new...

NOBODY should doubt that Colombians are soccer fanatics -- frenetic in victory and vicious in defeat.
An example: defender Andres Escobar was gunned down in July 1994, not long after scoring an own goal in a World Cup finals match against the United States that Colombia lost 2-1.

Nobody should doubt, either, the frenetic following of cricket in Pakistan. English coach Bob Woolmer was murdered the night that Pakistan lost to Ireland in the World Cup in the Caribbean and let's just say it is not surprising.
That, unfortunately, is the way of things in Pakistan cricket circles -- a country riddled with illegal bookmakers, drug scandals, superiority complexes, player arrogance and a support base of tens of millions whose existence and mood is dictated by the team's results.
For many years, before neutral umpires, it was common acceptance that a visiting team would lose the first Test and that the remainder would be played on pitches that virtually guaranteed draws so that Pakistan would win the series.
The reason was basic enough: Win and the entire country was in raptures. Lose and the stadium would be set alight, houses would be burnt down, effigies burnt, players, umpires and officials threatened. Overall, a groundswell of political unrest would erupt and engulf a grieving and angry nation.
If victory had to be achieved, it would be. It was no secret that Pakistan's star batsman of the 1980s, Javed Miandad, was never given out leg before wicket while local umpires were in charge (the option was a "not out" decision or your house being destroyed by irate fans).
So blatant was the need for first Test victory that the Australian team of 1988 threatened to return home and forfeit the rest of the tour after many abysmal decisions.
Senior Pakistan players were apologetic. Many, who played professionally in England and knew right from wrong in the sport of gentlemen, acknowledged the bias with a shrug of the shoulders and words to the effect "that's the way it is here".
Incidentally, it was reported in 2005 that Javed Miandad's son had married the daughter of Dawood Ibrahim, the head of the D-Company organised crime group -- a man labelled an international terrorist by the United States, who has links to al-Qaida and whose crimes are believed to include the deadly Mumbai bombings of 1993.
Pakistan has had many wonderful players and officials, tremendous sportsmen who understood that politics played a more important part in the outcome of a match than any of them. When the chairman of the board, or chairman of selectors, was appointed by the nation's president because he was a relative or boss of the army or transport department, there was no doubt politics dominated.
During the 1983 tour to Australia, several players expressed their concerns about splits in the camp, player favouritism and a lack of commitment. After a series of articles reporting the rifts, team manager Intikhab Alam approached me and asked if I would sign a letter to the Pakistan board, stating that I had made up all the allegations and that in fact this was a happy team and he was a wonderful manager.
DON'T be shocked. Intikhab was a good bloke and a fine cricketer who was a diligent manager. He also had political savvy, knowing that such stories threatened his career. He didn't get the sack, but he didn't get his autographed letter either!
That was the way of it in Pakistan cricket circles. Soon enough, players learned the tricks. Popular batsman Qasim Omar was outspoken about many incidents. He told International Cricket Council investigators that illegal bookmakers had lured players to throw matches or under-perform in exchange for sex with prostitutes.
The same bloke later confessed that he acted as an agent for bookmakers at least 40 times during his career. He claimed corruption had infiltrated every level of Pakistan cricket, often with official knowledge and acceptance, and including collusion with umpires and groundsmen.
Omar was banned from playing cricket in Pakistan for seven years in 1988 after a Pakistan Cricket Board inquiry dismissed his allegations that there was a "Mr Big" of world cricket who distributed drugs.
How wrong they were. In 1995, Pakistan's cricket board sacked its captain Salim Malik and manager Alam amid claims that Malik tried to bribe Australian spinners Tim May and Shane Warne in the previous year's series in Pakistan.
The devious world of illegal bookies had surfaced -- and not before time.
It was rampant years before. On the 1988 tour -- soon after Pakistan's President Zia was killed when his plane was blown out of the sky -- former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz took me to a party at a bookie's opulent home. In a country of so many underprivileged people, it was a breathtaking house.
After I declined to partake in the whisky drinking, and suggested a cold Crown Lager would have been nice, the "boss" ordered a driver to take his Mercedes. Ten minutes later, in this "dry" Pakistan city, the driver returned with a carton of icy cold Crown Lager. You wanted something, you got it.
Unhappily, Woolmer was tangled up in the betting scandals, but on the other side of the world. He was coaching South Africa when captain Hansie Cronje admitted he orchestrated results for bookies' cash.
THAT Woolmer left his South African post to accept one in Pakistan was jumping out of the frypan into the fire.
First, he had a group of players more interested in their bank balance than their cricket credibility. They were paper tigers -- a team that on paper looked formidable, but in action were a limp collection of smug, feted athletes.
Woolmer's death in the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica was a shock to the cricket world. He was a cricket lover, a pre-eminent coach, an honest and down-to-earth bloke.
He boasted, after all he had been through, that the last thing that would kill him was a heart attack. And he was never the type likely to even contemplate suicide.
Now that Scotland Yard is investigating his sudden death, and specialists are arriving from America as well, the homicide inquiry hopefully will quickly unravel the circumstances of his death.
Woolmer was set to retire from the Pakistan coaching job to take up junior coaching in South Africa.
However it was common knowledge that he was writing two books. One was about his coaching experiences, the other about his cricketing life and philosophies.
But anyone connected with illegal gambling or drugs within Pakistan circles who did not know its proposed contents -- and feared an expose that could identify them or their cronies -- may well have been prepared to do anything to prevent the story being told.
If that were the case, that may well be the reason Woolmer was murdered.
Yes, we are talking about fanatics, and, unfortunately, potentially those from the seediest side of Pakistan.

Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb

"In the light of recent incidents, you've got to be concerned," Chappell said. "When India wakes up tomorrow, they will be disappointed. Many of them probably will be angry with what has happened. But I hope people realise it is just a game.

pity the cvnt didn't have this attitude when he insisted his brother bowl underarm...

hope the tosser gets booted...

still harping on the past are we klongy?

and no one got killed over it....all that did was increase the competition between the 2 countries...

Bangladesh victory puts India out

Originally Posted by MeMock

still harping on the past are we klongy?

just stating that he has a short memory...

good sports are always good sports...

Chappel is only asking for them to be good sports cause he's on the wrong side of it...

the man has shown throughout his life that he's short on ethics so nothing new here...

short memory? 25 or 30 years?

methinks its a sore point....

but agreed Klongy a despicible act but still somewhat different to throwing rocks at peoples housing and threatening to kill or being killed

and india are OUT ! hahahaha, my heart bleeds for them, no really it does!

Bangladesh qualified for the Super 8 stage of the World Cup and put out India as they beat Bermuda in a rain-affected match in Trinidad.

An unbeaten stand of 59 between Mohammad Ashraful and Saqibul Hasan saw Bangladesh reach their target of 96 with three of their 21 overs remaining.
They had restricted Bermuda to 94-9 on a day of constant rain interruptions.
Saleem Mukuddem took three early wickets as Bangladesh slumped to 37-3 before they battled through.
Bangladesh lost a wicket early on in their run chase when Tamin Iqbal was brilliantly caught by Kevin Hurdle on the point boundary after slashing at Mukuddem.
Mukuddem then had Aftab Ahmed lbw for seven before Shahriar Nafees got an outside edge to Janeiro Tucker at second slip.
606: DEBATE
Your reaction to Bangladesh's victory and India's exit

The match began late after heavy rain at the Queen's Park Oval, and several more heavy showers during the day saw the number of overs per side reduced again and again.
Bermuda were in trouble from the first over of their innings, when Stephen Outerbridge hooked wildly at Mashrafe Mortaza and top-edged to Mohammad Rafique at fine leg.
Delyone Borden then got a leading edge to the same bowler and was easily taken at mid-off, before left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak had Bermudan captain Irvine Romaine trapped lbw for just 11.
David Hemp - top scorer against India - was sent packing for a duck, cutting Syed Rasel straight to Aftab Ahmed at gully.
After yet another rain break, Oliver Pitcher skied Saqibul Hasan to captain Habibul Bashar as the innings fell apart.
Lionel Cann restored some pride by smashing 16 off six balls before he was bowled by Hasan, with Tucker holing out on the boundary for six as Bermuda desperately sought runs.
Pitcher was later taken to hospital after landing awkwardly attempting a difficult running catch off Mohammad Ashraful.
Bangladesh's qualification triggered wild celebrations among their players. They had been expected to exit the tournament at the group stage, but their shock win over India last week meant they only had to avoid defeat against Bermuda to go through.

When are England going to fuck things up?

Don't be so down Marmite...things may change.....Kev's back, Flinty's sober so who knows...

Pietersen top of world rankings

I'm so glad they use "England player" rather than "Englishman" in the article

^Just shows how shite the rest of the team are, if we've got 'the best' in the team and we still lose to amateurs like New Zealand.

the only reason peiterson has overtaken hussey is because he is batting higher in the order ...hussey's last few games he has had to come in and start tonking from the word go .... note: The next pommy on the list is 34 or 35

Wally, since when is a bloke with the name of "pietersen" a pom? maybe you should rephrase that and say, the first pom is 35 on the list

I see I'm going to have to put up with a lot of shit over Songkran....

Originally Posted by kingwillyhggtb

and india are OUT ! hahahaha, my heart bleeds for them, no really it does!

Yes and where is that little plick Sunni now when they need him, don't here him say anything about how crap his lot is.

hmm, I kind of recall a certain Keppler Wessels playing for a certain Aussie team...

not to mention your rugger captain was a fucking Zambian - the fucking traitor

Keppler was excellent .... too bad politics messed with his career so much..

Too be fair though, the poms have always had far more many imports than australia..

I notice the accent on the Oirsh team is Woologongian..must now be a suburb of Dublin...

anyone really surprised by this article?

One has to wonder how 2 nations that worship cricket and their cricketers can exit so easily from the World Cup to teams from nations unheard of in their cricketing exploits.

To be honest, it would be like Japan or Canada beating the All Blacks in a Rugby World Cup.

Mind you when you read about the amount of illegal gambling, you'd have to think it was about time something was done, especially after the murder of Bob Woolmer. I would not like to be in Greg Chappell's shoes right now, nor would one like to take on the role of replacing him or Woolmer.

Barbs

PS. One has to feel sorry for the 'honest' and die hard supporters of Indian and Pakistani cricket, who are not getting a fair deal.

Dark world of illegal gambling
a.. Tarquin Hall
b.. March 26, 2007
'THERE is a bookie on every street corner in India and Pakistan," said Dr Ravinder, sitting in a back room above his clinic in Delhi. "It's a multi-billion-dollar industry controlled by the Mumbai mafia. You don't want to go asking too many questions about these people or their business. They're ruthless killers."
Ravinder, like tens of millions of south Asians, bets on international cricket matches broadcast live on satellite television. For the past few days I have spent hours with him and his friends watching one-day internationals in this illicit, men-only speak-easy.
In the stale haze of cigarette smoke, drinking bad Indian whisky, these hardened gamblers satisfy their addiction. Each has a dedicated mobile phone for keeping in contact with local bookies -- men with names such as "Metro" and "Goldstar". Using code names, they place bets without money changing hands. But once the match is over, all accounts must be settled.

"Within 24 hours, either a bagman will come with our winnings or will be asked to leave our dues with the local chai wallah," Ravinder said.

Gambling on cricket is illegal in south Asia. Just as prohibition in the US fuelled the rise of Al Capone, illegal betting feeds organised crime. On match days, tens of millions of dollars change hands.

The Hindustan Times estimates that the amount bet on cricket in India annually is more than the country's defence budget, some £10.6 billion ($25.8bn).

In cricket-obsessed India and Pakistan (combined population 1.26billion), with bookies operating in all big cities and thousands of towns, it is not hard to believe. Ravinder and his friends often place bets of up to £10,000 ($24,000) on a single day. The biggest spender is Gupta, a property developer who never risks less than £1000 ($2400).

"That's nothing," he told me with Punjabi bravado. "I know industrialists and politicians who will risk millions of rupees on one over. Since the match-fixing scandals of the 1990s, the business has become more complex and sophisticated."

Indeed, today, with odds available on a ball-by-ball basis, gamblers are able to bet on every aspect of the game -- from individual batsmen's scores to which team will win the toss. So-called session betting dominates, with bookies predicting the score for 15 overs at a time. Ravinder spends hours -- eyes on the television, mobile phone to his ear -- listening to the odds before murmuring figures into the mouthpiece.

"The rates are set by people in London," he said, echoing what I have heard from other insiders, as well as a senior Indian police investigator.

Ravinder has arranged for me to meet his bookie.

At a pre-arranged location we stop. Soon a 4 x 4 pulls up and we switch vehicles. Ravinder's bookie, who asks to be called "VIP", is nervous but agrees to speak to me for 10 minutes.

"I conduct all my business from this vehicle," said VIP, whose driver and two assistants work with him. The tools of his trade are 12 mobile phones and a couple of laptops with WiFi broadband, which he uses to service 300 customers. He added: "We are constantly moving around. Nowadays, there are certain officers who are after us."

I take this to mean that not all police are a threat. "No, I pay large bribes to many police officers and politicians," he replied. "Many are also my clients."

I asked him whether he bribes players and fixes matches, but he denied any involvement. "That doesn't go on nowadays," he insisted. "It is very difficult to talk to players and each game is closely scrutinised."

But in January, police in Nagpur recorded a telephone conversation between Mukesh Kochar, an alleged bookie, and Marlon Samuels, the West Indian all-rounder. Detectives released a transcript in which the player divulged his team's bowling order for an international against India to be played the next day.

"Such information is priceless to the betting syndicate," Ravinder said. "With that insider knowledge they can manipulate the odds and make a killing."

Amar Jadhav, a senior Mumbai police detective who has investigated cricket's links with organised crime, said this micro-fixing is pervasive. "Matches are no longer thrown," he said, "instead, specific overs are manipulated."

Jadhav added."The criminal nexus that controls gambling has become very adept at influencing the results to its own advantage. There are certain players in certain teams who are open to bribery, blackmail and coercion."

Jadhav has arrested a number of Indian bookies. But, as he put it, "the brains are absconding".

Mumbai's crime bosses remain at large. Dawood Ibrahim, the most notorious, is believed to live in Karachi, Pakistan, from where he controls a criminal empire.

Ibrahim has been declared by the US to be a global terrorist with alleged links to Al-Qaeda. The Pakistani press has reported men working for Ibrahim went to the West Indies for the World Cup.

"Ibrahim is involved in drugs, weapons, counterfeiting and contract killings," Jadhav said. "But Pakistan is protecting him."

Little wonder Ravinder always pays his gambling debts on time, even if he has to borrow to cover his losses. But he remains a canny gambler. "I can tell when a session has been fixed," he said. "The odds suddenly look too enticing. You notice it a lot when Pakistan or the West Indians are playing. Many of their players are definitely for sale."

Some names have been changed to protect identities

The Sunday Times

"Matches are no longer thrown," he said, "instead, specific overs are manipulated."

puts a new light on certain aspects of the game...





.