LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: If you don’t know who the patsy is, you’re the patsy
There are weaknesses in the match-fixing investigative documentary that cannot be overlooked
During the course of the investigation into South African cricket’s T20 match-fixing scandal three years ago, the impression was created that Gulam Bodi was doing most of the work by recruiting players into the scam with some cash handouts but mostly offers of even bigger payouts to come. It is an incorrect perception. Several bookies and fixers came to SA to speak to the players whom Bodi had said were "in". Cricket SA’s brilliant lead investigator, David Becker, concluded after many months of forensic examination of the evidence that no fix actually took place. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t planned. The simpler spot-fixes are the ones involving just a single player, and potentially the simplest is a low-scoring over towards the end of the power play. So, with only two fielders outside the inner circle during the first six overs of a T20 match, the batting team would usually attempt to capitalise and accelerate its scoring rate towards the end of the power play provided it had...
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