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Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi has lauded the judgment in the spot-fixing trial by London's Southwark Crown Court, which found Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif guilty of taking bribes to fix part of a Test match against England last year
"You should make a note of the fact that it was the court which has held Pakistan players Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif for spot-fixing and receiving illegal money in return and not the International Cricket Council," Bedi told rediff.com.
Though action against the match-fixers should have been taken earlier when the Delhi police registered cases against former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje and several others from various countries, including India, Bedi said the the ICC "should have done more to clean up the game and weed out the corrupt elements from the gentleman's game".
"Better late than ever. The British court has said in its order that spot/match-fixing is a criminal offence and those who indulge in these malpractices should be sent to jail. The order of the court will send right signals to bookies, match-fixers and spot-fixers. Those who have the tendency of making money on cricket will now think a hundred times before taking any risk which may destroy their cricketing carriers," the former ace spinner said.
He refused to comment on former Pakistan pacer Sarfraz Nawaz's claim that he had exposed match-fixing in 2001.
Former Test open Chetan Chauhan too welcomed the judgment.
A former Member of Parliament, Chauhan shared Bedi's view. "This will have a long-term impact. Those greedy players who accept money from bookies will now not take any risk. The gentleman's game should be cleaned up and I hope the ICC will now swing into action and do the needful," Chauhan said.