THE good news for India's cricket bosses is that Mark Waugh and Warne have provided the lie to a ranking Bombay police officer's claim that "every side with the exception of Australia and England in the world can be purchased".
The bad news is that the ghost of match-fixing has returned to haunt the country, with Madras-based journalist R. Mohan naming "a former Indian Test cricketer" as the intermediary between the two Aussie stars and the Madras-based bookie who paid them.
Confirming widespread payoffs to international players, Mohan told The Age, Melbourne, that the Australians were NOT paid $11,200 (approximately Rs 350,000 in 1994) by the bookie for weather and pitch information but to give the bookies "permanent contacts" in the game. "Maybe he thought he was establishing contacts for a long-term relationships. Then the money doesn't look so big," he said.
Mohan quit The Hindu after 18 years as cricket correspondent last year after allegations of betting on matches and associating with illegal bookies. But he described as preposterous allegations that he organised the payments to Waugh and Warne: "I've never met Waugh and only spoke to Warne at press conferences. Everyone thinks that (the former Indian player) set up the meeting." Mohan told the Y.V. Chandrachud commission last year that "I've no personal knowledge but it's widely believed that a large amount of betting takes place on cricket in India." He told The Age last week that the ultimate source of the funds provided to Waugh and Warne was rumoured to be one of two large bookmakers, a "Raju" in Bombay or a "John" in Delhi.
"Only rarely do the bookmakers themselves make direct contact with players," he said. The grey market is worth "millions and millions", he added, leading to a number of matches being thrown. Most involved the Pakistanis, as other teams "can't be got to that easily."
