ICC team lands in Nagpur to investigate the betting scandal in which Marlon Samuels id allegedly involved; lauds police efforts in bringing the matter to light.
NAGPUR: The three-member team of the International Cricket Council (ICC) that arrived in Nagpur on Sunday said that it “isn’t ruling anything in or anything out” regarding West Indian all rounder Marlon Samuels.
Samuels was caught on tape by the Nagpur police talking to an alleged bookie Mukesh Kochar during the Nagpur one-day match. The Nagpur police had no evidence to register a criminal offence, but since it was a case of violation of the ICC Code of Conduct for players, the police communicated the matter to BCCI, which in turn referred it to the ICC.
As Brian Murgatroyd, ICC’s Media and Communication manager, put it at an informal chat, “The timing, just before the World Cup, is interesting and it reminds every one that the issue (of betting and match fixing) is still alive. We must stay vigilant; there’s no scope for complacency for ICC, cricket boards, players, members of the media and for every one who’s responsible for cricket,” Murgatroyd said.
“It is too early to speculate on what the investigation might produce,” Murgatroyd told reporters outside Police Gymkhana, where the ICC investigators held parleys with local police officials “to get a better picture of what has happened here.”
The team led by Murgatroyd has Jeff Rees and Alan Peacock, two experienced investigators from the world cricket body’s anti-corruption and security unit. NS Virk, the ICC’s regional manager, is accompanying the investigators.
The ICC has not fixed any time period for the probe. “It will take as long as it takes to reach correct answers,” Murgatroyd replied to a query. “We are not entirely clear about what we have with us. It’s too early to speculate on what the investigation might produce,” he said.
Declining to elaborate on the nature of investigations, the ICC official said that the investigators are in Nagpur to “get a better picture of what has taken place here.”
“It is difficult to say that there are loopholes in the system on the basis of what has come to light,” Murgatroyd said, when pointed out that Virk was in Nagpur on the match day. “But the fact that it has come to light is a very positive thing,” he said, praising the Nagpur police for bringing to light a “potentially serious issue that would have gone unreported.”
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