Ravi Bopara, the England
and Essex batsman, was investigated by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security
Unit (ACSU) after an inquiry into this year’s Bangladesh Premier League and was
almost suspended for an alleged failure to supply various documents 12 months
before last summer’s Champions Trophy.
Bopara, who has played 94
one-day internationals and 13 Tests, was cleared of any wrongdoing. He had been
asked to supply bank and phone statements, and was interviewed for two hours.
Another English player
was understood to have been under suspicion during the investigation, which
culminated in nine players being charged, including Darren Stevens, the Kent
all-rounder. Stevens has been accused of failing to report an illegal approach.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Although Bopara is
innocent, the incident will cause alarm in England as it is proof that
corruption allegations are not an issue restricted to the sub-continent. Last
year, Mervyn Westfield, the Essex bowler, was jailed for spot-fixing in a
domestic one-day match.
The ECB may be concerned
that a player with such a profile as Bopara has come under the microscope and
could stiffen its resolve not to allow players to appear in franchise Twenty20
competitions, wary that they could be vulnerable to match-fixing rings.
Bopara, who is playing
for six weeks for Prime Bank in the Dhaka Premier Division, a 50-over league,
was a member of the Chittagong Kings franchise in the BPL, which ran for a
month from January 18. The 28-year-old was asked by the ACSU on February 15 to
hand over his bank statements for the previous 12 months, three years of phone
records and his mobile phones, including Sim cards.
He was unable to comply
until before the start of the Champions Trophy in June because he was abroad,
first in Bangladesh, then in South Africa, where he appeared for the Dolphins
in their Twenty20 competition. He was within seven days of being suspended by
the ICC because all players sign a code of conduct that allows access to such
information.
On its database, the ACSU
holds the telephone numbers of match-fixers and would have cross-referenced
these with any calls Bopara made or received. Bank statements would have been
scrutinised for suspicious payments. Andy Flower, the England team director,
was aware of the inquiry.
Bopara was cleared to
play in the Champions Trophy once his lawyer, Yasin Patel, liaised with the
ACSU. “The delay was caused because he couldn’t access hard copies of the
information as he was travelling the world doing his job,” Patel said.
“Then,
when he was back in England ..... he endured a two-hour interview with ACSU
and ECB representatives which finished at around two in the morning.
“He had no legal
representation and it was more like an interrogation. There are no safeguards
or protections for the players whatsoever. They are conducting police-like
interviews, and that is neither moral nor correct.”
ECB officials helped to
“facilitate” the meeting, but have not been contacted about it since by the
ACSU. It is understood that David Collier, the ECB chief executive, telephoned
Bopara to “remind him of his responsibilities”.
Patel believes that the
ACSU’s approach will hamper attempts to clean up the game. “The ACSU rely on
players coming forward to share information about match-fixing. Which player
will want to do that [now]?” he said.
This article was first published in The Ties on October 26 2013
