South Africa never lost a single Test when he was captain, but in Ali Bacher’s story, that record occupies nothing more than a footnote. His main contribution to the game came decades later when as the country’s cricket board boss, he swiftly dealt with the match-fixing crisis involving the late Proteas captain Hansie Cronje that shook the cricket world.
Nobody knows more about corruption in cricket than Bacher. He used to warn the International Cricket Council about matches being fixed in the early 1990’s when all cricketers were still considered gentlemen and the game incorruptible. The former supremo of South Africa cricket believes the axe has finally fallen on those involved in corruption but that there is still lot to be done.
Excerpts
Q. Do you think jailing corrupt cricketers is the right way to tackle the menace?
If jailing them doesn’t stop them, then nothing will. The three Pakistan cricketers have brought disrepute to the game and just banning them is not enough. Seeing a corrupt cricketer is the most powerful deterrent and I’m glad the right decision was taken this time. I’m heartened by what has happened in London. To me the axe has finally fallen on those involved in match corruption.
Q. Why do cricketers succumb to malpractices?
It’s greed. I’m sure they love cricket and that is how they reached the top. But the love for money is far greater and it overshadows everything. It’s what happened with Hansie (Cronje). There is no question that he was among the best captains South Africa had, but he suffered from a bad habit. Look at the Pakistani kid, Mohammad Amir. From whatever little I saw of him, he was a fantastic fast bowler. It’s a shame that he did not have a settled head over his shoulders.
Q. London’s handling of the spot-fixing gate has set a precedent. But there may have been many who have got away.
Look, match-fixing has been going on for a long time. I told this to the ICC delegates in their 1994 meeting and again in 1996, but they quickly shifted to some other topic. ‘Where’s the evidence?’ they asked always. The ICC had been living in denial for a long time — they thought corruption could never affect cricket. I think the bravest man was Pakistan’s former captain Majeed Khan, he used to used call me frequently in the 1990’s telling me which game was fixed. We went public with the information that India-Pakistan and Bangladesh-Pakistan matches in the 1999 World Cup in England were fixed. And we were castigated for it.
Q. The ICC is mulling a move by which they’ll be able to go undercover to prevent fixing…
The ICC cannot solve the problem from Dubai – there is no way they can know which player is being approached when. To solve this problem, there has to be a code of ethics in every player’s contract and it should be signed in front of the media. That way if the players err, everyone knows what kind of punishment will be levied on them.