ZIMBABWE CRICKET AND MATCH FIXING

[ZIMDOGGY]

Crimsons right,
You dont want to get hit with a libel charge on speculation.

We all know who the wildly inconsistent players are.

[eugene]

I think it is time for those making allegations to front up with some hard evidence.

For the time being, I subscribe to the theory that our players are just not very good, as opposed to deliberately failing.

[Googly]

It's hard to believe, there's not much margin to play with. Where's the evidence and the ICC and ZC investigation?

[gargamel]

I personally am suspecting Dav Whatmore as coach . I think the last 3 T20s he failed to change the squad and by not picking at least 2 specialist spinners in the final game ensured Zimbabwe would not progress out of the group. The incentives for the players were as follows

1. Participate you get 10K
2. Get to the main group stage get 30K this is as far as Zim would go in my opinion
3. Get to the knock outs get 50K
4. Semis get 100K
5. Final 150K
6. Win the T20 get 250K each

A fixer will come along and offer say ELT 40K in the qualifying round i would find it hard not to fix considering that it eclipses the what he would have gotten to qualify for the group stage and all the additioanl cricket. an easy pay day in cash with no need to wait for a ZC payout in 3 months.

[ZIMDOGGY]

ive never understood how some spot fixing works in the sense that I have neverseen a bet where i can bet the all will be a no ball or not.

I'd imagine some of the betting margins would be.
bowler goes for 10+ an over
method of dismissal lbw/bowled (catch is always the favourite)
first dismissal under 10 runs

[Conant]

Aaaah... Zimbabweans and conspiracy theories. I totally would like to believe we are just hopeless at cricket.

For a bookie to make any sort of money they need to bet against the side that's favourite to win the match, and in addition they need to have a viable market for those odds too. In which case, the theory that some might be fixing domestic matches instantly falls away because nobody bets on Zimbabwe's domestic matches. The only one was the T20s three years ago, and that was me, who then got followed by Bet365 and therefore a few more bookies thereafter But still the market would have been too small to bet significantly on, and supposedly the fixing would have only started in the recent past?

I guess a few might have dabbled in maybe the Bangladesh League in their foreign excursions but Zimbabwe's? I doubt. They are plonkers, they will always lose.

[eugene]

Some of the Zimbabwean players would probably be dumb enough to fix matches in exchange for $200 and a leather jacket.

[Kriterion_BD]

There's two aspects, match fixing and spot fixing. I don't think many if any matches are fixed.

For match results, as Conant has stated the market must be there. For int'l cricket the market is always there. But you also need the right odds, which are based on general perception. The general perception of Zimbabwe cricket has been stable for the last 10 plus years. In that time Zimbabwe has never been favored against top sides, so if matches were fixed to make money, it would have to be Zimbabwe pulling an upset win.

Now Zim has been favored against Associates most recently, Afghanistan, Ireland, and in the past Kenya. Now were losses against these sides fixed? I don't think so. Most of these matches have "even" odds due to the teams being well matched. In other words you can make a small winning on either team. The odds in the recent series vs AFG had payouts of around 1.75 for Afghans and 1.5 for Zim. Now that that doesn't leave a lot of profit to start paying 2 or 3 players off, given the associated risks involved, legal and otherwise. Other one off matches vs sides like HK, UAE have been played in major tournies, but Zim has won all those games.

Spot fixing is a different beast. But even then too risky Imo to make much money consistently. For example fixing it so Vusi gets lut for exactly 77 is dumb, because Vusi so rarely scores that many in internationals. On the other hand fixing it so Vusi scores a duck is also risky because all you need is one outside edge to the third man fence to ruin that one too. Or a trademark Vusi cover drive for 4, before he pulls the next one straight to deep square leg.

If the only evidence is "sources within ZC" I'm not sure how credible and honest those sources would be. Are people in ZC honest, I don't think so. Would someone make up vicious lies just to damage someone they didn't like? Absolutely possible IMO.

[zimstarr]

Some of the Zimbabwean players would probably be dumb enough to fix matches in exchange for $200 and a leather jacket.

hahahahaha someone will actually be tempted by a cool $ 200 and a shiny leather jacket

[Googly]

People have gone quiet, this may be our worst crisis yet. We need information guys. Let me rephrase that. This will be our worst crisis ever if there's proof of this.