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Match fixing is ruining Pakistani cricket - Geoff Lawson interview on Dateline

shehanwije

School Boy/Girl Captain
Former Australian player Geoff Lawson is about to take on Woolmer's job and he tells Australia's SBS Dateline program that he'll walk away from his coaching commitments if he discovers any evidence of corruption. Meanwhile, Dateline traveled to Karachi in Pakistan, one of the biggest hubs on the subcontinent for the gambling mafia. They spoke to a former judge, who says match fixing in cricket is still going on...and a former player who claims that at least one of the recent World Cup games was fixed. See the video clips at:

Part 1 (of 3): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jALPzeUPlk

Part 2 (of 3): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtU4F5gluOc

Part 3 (of 3): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcDM-p3-7pE
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
What's the point of this kind os statement by Lawson, he knew the situation before taking up this job. So now go and do the job. If you dont want to deal with it, dont take the job.

And Pakistan being singled out everytime for corruption in cricket is pretty stupid and offensive too, it has been proved in the past that SA, India, Australia, England etc have corrupt officials, cricketersas well. At least India/Pakistan didn't cover up like some other countries did.
 
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umop 3p!sdn

School Boy/Girl Captain
Match fixing is going to be very difficult to stop. It is becoming more and more easy to get away with it, and cover it up. These days you can bet on thing like, what the batsmen will score on the next ball. I guess the only way to stop it, is to put in place strict laws. I believe if someone fails to follow these rules, he/she should be banned from the sport, they are putting a bad name on the sport, and should not get away with it.
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Match fixing is going to be very difficult to stop. It is becoming more and more easy to get away with it, and cover it up. These days you can bet on thing like, what the batsmen will score on the next ball. I guess the only way to stop it, is to put in place strict laws. I believe if someone fails to follow these rules, he/she should be banned from the sport, they are putting a bad name on the sport, and should not get away with it.
what are your statements, especially the bolded ones based on?
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
Is it me or does Nawaz concurrently hold the records for the largest mouth and smallest brain in Pakistan?
 
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silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
What's the point of this kind os statement by Lawson, he knew the situation before taking up this job. So now go and do the job. If you dont want to deal with it, dont take the job.
Just finished all three parts. I don't see what he said that was wrong. He said that he has a moral and contractual obligation to report anything immediately if he sees it, and he would never be involved with that.
 

Matt79

Global Moderator
And its something he will have already been asked about several times, and will no doubt continue to be asked about - especially given some of the conspiracy theories doing the rounds after Woolmar's death. What should he say - "I'm not taking questions about that"? That would sound like he was shirking the issue. Saying "I won't tolerate it and if I find out its going on the people involved will be reported" is pretty much the least inflammatory thing he could say.
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
Just finished all three parts. I don't see what he said that was wrong. He said that he has a moral and contractual obligation to report anything immediately if he sees it, and he would never be involved with that.
My comment was based on the thread topic. I think the Comment "Match Fixing is ruining Pakistan Cricket" is a stupid statement. I, ofcourse, assumed that it was a statement made by Lawson after accepting the coaching job, in the videos aboce or otherwise.

First of all there are no proofs of match fixing by Pakistanis unless you believe Sarfira Nawaz. Some Pakistani(and Indian) fans come with the unreasonable expectation of their players performing at the best level in every game and win every game. When it doesn't happen they throw these allegations of match fixing around. I have heard it every time Pakistan/India lost a game "oh this game was fixed, it has match fixing written all over it" blah blah blah. TBF that pisses me off.

The notion that Pakistan cricket is plagued by matchfixing is load of bull****, I have watched lot of pakistani cricket in last 7-8 years and I can safely say that I have not come across a single game which looked like it was fixed. This image of Pakistan Cricket built by media who give too much importance to Sarfira Nawaz , the Judge and others like them. Sadly PCB is too incompetent to take note of this.
 
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pasag

RTDAS
I didn't watch the second half as it got quite tedious, but I think the thread title might be taking Lawson out of context. I think his position is match fixing allegations from the media are ruining Pakistani cricket and having a really negative effect on the team.
 

pasag

RTDAS
Here is the transcript from the SBS website with Lawson's bits:


GEOFF LAWSON: One of the problems the team will have is to ignore the extraneous external upsetting, inaccurate opinions and get on with playing the game. But avoiding those sort of factors will be key to the players doing the best they can. People can say what they like in the press, but it is how the players get on with their job, that's the important thing.

GEOFF LAWSON: The fact that people were found to have done the wrong thing and fined, that's a good thing for World Cricket, and of course the anti-corruption commission is significantly strengthened since that time so it's become, on the one hand, very much harder to be involved in any sort of issues of that era. I think players have woken up to the fact that the game deserves more than that sort of treatment. So it's a two-fold effect. It's more enforcement but the players have become far more responsible.


GEOFF LAWSON: I suppose Sarfraz is entitled to his opinion as everybody else is.

Geoff Lawson sees nothing sinister in Pakistan's poor performance.

GEOFF LAWSON: That's the game, you know. People aren't perfect. If people were crowd, media, commentators, ex-players expect the team to be perfect, they have got very unreal expectations.

GEOFF LAWSON: We are not going to worry about what the crowd think or what the press think or what the former players think. Unless they have something constructive to say. That will be part of the ongoing process we put in place to make sure the players don't feel those sort of pressures.

GEOFF LAWSON: You know, betting in cricket has gone back to the 18th century. The game was going to be banned in England in the 18th century because of gambling, it is nothing new. Now there are processes in place to deal with these things and for every crisis that comes up, there is generally an answer to solving that and the human condition always allows people to be looking for the next best way to make a quid and we can't do anything about that.

REPORTER: What would you do if you come across any sort of evidence of fixing or corruption in cricket in Pakistan?

GEOFF LAWSON: Whether I was a coach or a player, whatever I was, or a journalist or commentator, if you hear or see of issues of match fixing, you report them straightaway to the authorities. That is certainly the case and I have a contractual obligation to do that anyway. I would have a moral obligation to deal with that and I wouldn't put up with that sort of thing in any shape or form.

GEOFF LAWSON: A lot of my friends have said to me, well congratulations on your job but you are mad. I am getting sick of it because I am not mad. I am looking forward to it with a great deal of enthusiasm and dealing with the people, not only the players but also the fans and whole interaction. If we do this thing properly, it will be one of the best times of my life. I am looking at it from that point of view. It's a great challenge. I am going to enjoy every minute of it, no matter which way it goes, no matter how people react, I will enjoy every moment of this.

--------------

I personally think he's answered the questions very well and the thread starter has taken him out of context.
 

Sanz

Hall of Fame Member
I completely agree with your assessment. I hope the thread starter comes back to explain why he quoted Lawson out of context.

My apologies to Mr. Lawson for making an assumption about his interview.
 

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