Chappell asks for life ban on players involved in fixing

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell feels administrators have not done enough to frighten off the "crooks" in cricket and the corruption in the sport can end only if life bans are imposed on guilty players.

"Fixing is fixing in any form, get involved in the dirty business and your career in the game of cricket is over for life," said Chappell.

"There's no doubt the jail sentences for the three Pakistan players have sent a warning to all cricketers and officials.

"But what about cricket sending out an equally strong message to the crooks? So far, cricket with its fragmented international administration, hasn't done much at all to frighten off the crooks," Chappell wrote in his column The Sunday Telegraph.

Chappell said the fact that ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) had little to do with the capture of any of cricket's major corrupters, there is a concern that more players could have been involved.

"If anyone thinks Bob Woolmer's (former Pakistan coach) death wasn't slightly suspicious and that Pakistan players are the only ones involved in this racket, then I have a rewarding Nigerian investment opportunity you would be interested in."

The former Aussie cricketer also said that despite the head of the ACSU Ronnie Flanagan's statement that "the ICC is the enemy of any corrupt cricketer", it came as a little consolation.

"This statement would be more credible if there weren't so many former players with high-profile jobs in the game, who have either been adversely named in reports on match-fixing or were members of a team captained by a match-fixer," said Chappell.

"Flanagan's statement would also have more meaning if the ICC hadn't moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2004, shortly after Sharjah was dubbed "a dirty venue" in 2001. Some questionable games might have been played in Sharjah, but the dirty money was coming from Dubai," he added.

The 68-year-old said cricket related method must be found out to end the career of any suspect rather than trying to do it through the courts.

"The chances of finding a suspect cricketer guilty in a court of law are slim. However, any suspicious behaviour by a player should first bring a warning from the authorities and any repeat performance would then result in his removal from the game.

"One conversation I had with an ACSU member has led me to wonder if they really understand the type of people behind this dirty business," explained Chappell.