No room for corruption in Australia, says skipper Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke, the Australian captain expressed extreme confidence that there is absolutely no room for fixing in their country.
"As an Australian cricketer, I'm very proud of what this current team has done and achieved and I think we are educated very well in what is right and what is wrong," he told reporters on Wednesday about their awareness of doing only the right things.
Testimonies of Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum were released by a British newspaper earlier this week from the ICC probe that is currently investigating on this matter.
"I'm extremely confident about the players I'm playing with, this Australian team, all know very clearly that there's no room for corruption in our team. A big part of our job is to uphold the integrity of our sport and I think we do that well," he spoke about the faith he has in his team and players. The Australians, he mentioned, have been very proper in conduct – at-least regarding to corruption, even though there were other disciplinary actions taken against some.
Ever since the country's cricketing authorities were criticized for keeping the "Bookmaker John" case in 1995 away from public, there has been no such incident till date. Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, two of the greatest players who represented Australia were fined for leaking weather and pitch information - punishments that were not revealed until 1998 for accepting money from an Indian bookie.
Clarke also throws light into the fact that they were educated on this issue from a young age, so that players stay away from making any bad decisions on offer of money.
"These days you get educated from a very young age, I think once you come into the state system, even as a rookie contract. So for some guys it starts at 16 years of age," he said.
"I think the educational process Australian cricketers go through is extremely thorough and we know the difference between right and wrong, and what is accepted, and what isn't,” the right handed batsman added.
Taking an indirect dig at the Trans-Tasmanian rivalry, Clarke mentioned: “I can only talk about Australian players, but in this country we are very well educated and I'm very happy, satisfied and confident that Australian players are making the right decisions."
The Australian skipper worried about the image of the game and hopes that this will not dilute the fan following the game enjoys.
"I don't think we should be tarring all cricketers, it's a minority that is dealing with these sort of issues and I'd be disappointed if the fans of cricket think this is happening more than it is," he said.
Further referring about the quality of cricket, he took pride in referring it as the top game in the world.
"I want to see it stamped out and so do the ICC and Cricket Australia. I think it's the greatest sport in the world,"