Kapil Dev called for a mass clean-up operation to root out any players involved in cricket's betting scandal. The Indian Test legend said he was ashamed to be a cricketer on the day Hansie Cronje admitted to taking cash from a bookmaker. But Kapil, who insisted he has never been offered money from bookmakers in return for information, hopes some good can come out of the crisis which has shaken the sport.
Kapil said, ‘It has hurt me. I was ashamed to be a cricketer at that moment….It is terribly sad.’ Cronje admitted to the United Cricket board of South Africa he accepted money from an Indian bookmaker in return for information in the one-day series between India and South Africa. The admission has sparked a furore which has shaken cricket and re-opened the nagging debate about match-fixing in the game.
Meanwhile the England and Wales Cricket Board are to pass on information from Chris Lewis to the police following the former England all-rounder's `match-fixing' revelations. Lewis was interviewed today by the ECB after his comments in Sunday's News of the World. He had claimed sports promoter Ashim Kheterpal revealed the identities of three famous England players who had taken cash in exchange for unfairly influencing matches. Lewis was speaking in the aftermath of the sacking of Hansie Cronje as South Africa captain because of his admission of dishonesty to his employers over match-fixing allegations.
