Is Spot-Fixing Always Going to be Rife in Cricket?

Danish Kaneria is Pakistan's highest ever wicket-taking spinner with 261 Test scalps and 15 ODI scalps. Add this to over 1,000 first-class and 262 List A wickets and he has one of the best records for any spin bowler of the modern era. He has had a career full of many highs and lows with 15 Test five wicket hauls while always struggling to impose himself on the ODI side. He was an old-fashioned tail-ender and scored just one first-class fifty in 264 innings. At Essex he was one of the most successful bowlers on the county circuit and his 16 wickets in ten matches helped the team to the 2005 National One-Day League title. A firm fan favourite in both his home country and at Chelmsford he enjoyed an excellent career thanks to his abundance of talent.

However in spring 2010 charges were brought against him and Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield after allegations of spot-fixing in a pro40 game with Durham in 2009. This scandal was overshadowed by the Pakistan national team who had three players jailed for their roles in the spot-fixing at Lord's against England. Young fast bowler Mohammad Amir received six months in prison, Mohammad Asif a year and captain Salman Butt 30 months. The three internationals were given between five and ten year bans from the ICC which were the heaviest bans of this type since Hansie Cronje's life ban a decade before.

While all this was going on former Pakistan bowler Kaneria was being questioned by Essex police for his role in the spot-fixing against Durham, of which he denied any involvement. Fast bowler Westfield pleaded guilty to two counts of fixing and was jailed for four months in January 2012. He was allegedly being paid to bowl a specific over that would concede 12 runs and he did this by bowling deliberate wide deliveries. Kaneria was recently found to be a 'corruptor' of Westfield and although there was not enough evidence to bring charges against him in court, the ECB banned him from cricket for life. This followed being banished by the PCB two years before for not appearing in front of an integrity committee.

Spot-fixing in the world of cricket seems to be becoming a big problem and big names in the cricketing community have shown a big concern about the matter. Many want a no nonsense approach to the players involved. Ex England bowler Darren Gough said of the sentences handed out to the Pakistani players: "I'm pleased, I would have liked to see the (sentences) longer to be honest." Not everyone was convinced that spot-fixing can be stopped. Former bowler Bob Willis was sceptic towards the possible banishing of fixing when he said: "This will certainly help to eradicate spot-fixing and match-fixing in the UK, as for the rest of the world I'm not sure."

2010 was not the first year that spot-fixing was realised as a problem. Pakistani cricket has often been alleged to be corrupted, especially their domestic game while the first high-profile case was Hansie Cronje in 2000. An investigation by the Indian media found him to be taking money in exchange for changing his performance but many people believed Cronje's lies that he was innocent. He was seen to be an ambassador for cricket and had a great standing in the game and was the figure-head of post-apartheid cricket in South Africa. However he eventually admitted the charges and was banned from cricket.

When that happened many people thought that it was the first step towards bringing an end to the spot-fixing empire. Although strides have been made, for example the Pakistani cricketers' jail sentences, corruption still riddles the game and Kaneria's life-time ban proves this.

Can Ian Bell Finally Bring His Test Form to the One-Day Arena?

The first time Ian Bell was put under the microscope was back in the 2005 Ashes series when he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Aussie greats Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne made a mockery of Dayle Hadlee's comment that Bell was the best 16-year-old he had ever seen. That series he scored just 171 runs in five matches at an average of just 17.1. 

However Bell was still seen to be one of England's brightest prospects and started to improve on the international arena. He scored three centuries in a Test Series against Pakistan batting at number six a year later and continued his progress with an improved performance against Australia, albeit in a 5-0 defeat. Despite this he took a long time to get his One Day International career off and running as he struggled to distinguish quick-scoring stroke-play from rash shots. One of the reasons he found one-day cricket hard was that his position in the batting order always fluctuated and with it so did his role in the side.

In August 2007 Bell finally scored his first ODI century against India; in his 46th innings. Many thought that this would be the turning point to allow him to kick-on and become a one-day regular for England. These hopes failed to materialise as his form in all types of the game began to suffer and he lost his Test place with his average around the 40 mark and question marks over his ability to score runs in a crisis. But he won his place back towards the end of the 2009 Ashes series and proved his worth with a battling fifty on his return. 

His career really took a turn for the better during the Test series in South Africa in 2009/10. He scored a match-winning unbeaten 140 in the second Test and a crucial series-saving 78 in the final match as England held on for a dramatic 1-1 draw. His magnificent form continued into 2011, although he continued to struggle to seal a place in the one-day side after a disappointing 2011 World Cup. Nevertheless his form in the longer format of the game was only getting better and he finished the 2011 season with 950 runs at an average of 118.75, including a career-best 235 against India in his final innings of the summer. 

Surprisingly though, that one-day spot continued to elude him as he could not find a big innings. His strike-rate was not high either; at just 74 runs per 100 balls faced. As a result he was left out of England's one-day squad that played on the sub-continent in 2011/12 and did not look like winning that place back. However Kevin Pietersen's shock retirement from ODI's and T20i's gave Bell another shot at securing a place in England's top order. 

That shot came today and he took his chance in commanding style, scoring only his second hundred in 105 innings. He scored at over a run a ball and was the lynch-pin in England's excellent total of 288-6, the base for a 112 run win over the West Indies.

Bell feels as though he has improved as a player since he last featured in England's one-day top order: 

"I'm a better player now than last time I was at the top of the order. Hopefully I can take my Test match form into one-day cricket now."

Captain Alastair Cook thinks Bell is 'what England need at the top of the order' and "that's why [England] pick people with good technique to try to get through the new ball and play an innings like Bell did. I think he has improved as a player - he has worked his socks off and is getting the rewards."

England are desperate to become more of a force in ODI cricket and Bell's fluent stroke-play at the start of the innings could be just what they have been missing. After the tougher test of Australia later this summer we might know then if the Warwickshire batsman has finally put his one-day demons to bed.