Corruption Not in my game please

The trial of the Pakistani cricketers started yesterday and this is another sad day for cricket. I didn't wish to speak of it though then out of respect for Graham Dilley who had sadly died.

I am saddened that my beautiful game, the game I have loved and cherished over all my life has been yet again tarnished by the greed of a few and the stupidity of a few more. If these cricketers are found guilty then the whole game must stand up and take a very serious look at itself very much more than Lord Condon ever did.

Present professional cricketers, coaches and administrators are the ones charged with the safety of this wonderous game. It is up to them to stand up and be counted and anyone found guilty of besmerching those standards should face the severest of punsihments. If that includes expelling whole countries from the system then so be it if they were found to have knowledge of these things.

One way of stopping this happening though is to have decent wages throughout the system. The riches of the IPL is only redistributed to a few yet there are millions of people playing cricket in India where we know that the social structure will lead to temptation for those in an impoverished position from those who would be their controllers. In Pakistan there are few rewards for their top players and it is therefor easier for those in the world of crime to influence those players. It is much more difficult I think in England, Australia or South Africa because the remuneration of even journeymen professionals is generally better than that of internationals from other countries but that doesn't mean it can't go on.

Likewise the riches of the ICC, now based in the Middle East of course, do not filter sufficiently down. Television money does not get to those most needed of places even though this is claimed. Too much politics goes on and too many people want too much power.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the world of cricket I implore you understand that this game has the power to shape and influence the way the world moves. What happens on the cricket pitches of the world should be an example to the youth of the world that there is a better way to act a better way to behave and a better way to live.

Lillee caught Willey bowled Dilley

Graham Dilley has died at the age of 52 and my heart lies sad today.

He is without a doubt the forgotten hero of a test series that has always become known as Botham's Ashes. Yet for those of us who love our cricket, and particularly for those of us who were playing at the time we all know that had it not been for Graham Dilley's resolute batting in that Headingley test match one wonders would England have won the match and ultimately the series.

He was a consummate professional, a fine man and in another era would have shone brighter in the starlight.

Let us hope that he has found peace in the great pavilion in the sky and he is looking down and smiling at the number of times that people will say Lillee caught Willey bowled Dilley and remember.