Henry Blofeld: Lord Condon battling against bookies' odds

Match-fixing is, and will remain, a highly mysterious subject clouded in an impenetrable fog of deceit, manipulation, bribery and corruption of the worst sort. In the last two or three weeks there have been some strongly contradictory statements made about this unpleasant subject from two vastly different, but interested, parties.

Lord Condon, the former policeman, appointed by the International Cricket Council to oversee its operations against the ungodly, has said, hand on heart presumably, that he believes match-fixing to be at an end. He is sure that for some time now there has been no match-fixing, implying that those in the game have called a halt and new recruits have not been lured in to the sordid business.

When one considers the doubts and difficulties that he has previously expressed while touring the relevant parts of the globe to try to find the ear of the underworld, this is either excellent news or pure tomato sauce. The bookmaking fraternity in South Africa wasted not a moment in saying it was the latter in spades.

It would be stretching the imagination not to agree with them as it must be probable that they have a vested interest in these activities. They have maintained a, no doubt, fertile relationship with their brothers-in-arms across the Indian Ocean in Bombay – there are a great many Indians in South Africa, particularly on the east coast.

It would be surprising if they did not have a pretty good idea of what was still going on even in the unlikely event of them not being involved themselves. It would be far-fetched in the extreme to expect the people who have been principally involved, to gallop headlong into the paths of righteousness because a retired copper rushed around the world wagging a finger and threatening to bang heads together.

One can only wonder how His Lordship would make out in the bookmaking dens of Bombay, to say nothing of Malaysia or Dubai. The Mr Bigs of the business are unlikely to spend too much time themselves in these dens. Six-star accommodation would surely be their style and one can only conjecture as to whether or not His Lordship has put the fear of God into them.

This particular grapevine has a labyrinth of roots and branches. It has been rumoured that the financial involvement of those at the top runs into huge figures and obviously they do not want to be exposed. Hush money has accordingly been paid and, if anyone should grass on them, a gangland killing or two might be the next item on the agenda.

In South Africa, there is an operation underway to try to sweep the whole business even more under the carpet than has happened already.

I have heard on good authority of moves at the top to absolve the disgraced former captain Hansie Cronje, before he was killed in an air crash, from all guilt sometime during the competition.

After all, he only took the money the bookmakers in their infinite wisdom wished to squeeze into his hands. The quid pro quo they undoubtedly demanded has been conveniently forgotten. But then cricket has something of a reputation for taking a "holier than thou" attitude when the morality of their own is brought into question.

There has also been an admission that while match-fixing itself may have been put temporarily on hold, there is skulduggery afoot when it comes to guessing a side's score after the first 15 overs of a one-day match. With great respect to His Lordship, I should think there are many other facets of the one-day game that would warrant a Stewards' Enquiry at the very least.

The one-day tournaments held at unlikely and out-of-the-way venues may especially attract the criminal element. There are still a number of these in places such as Sharjah, Kenya, Toronto and Singapore. Tangiers has now come online, the brainchild of the founder of the Sharjah event.

These competitions will be immensely difficult for His Lordship to police. Knowing the persuasive powers of the bookmaking profession which fancies the fast buck as much as any, either Lord Condon was being disingenuous, not a fault from which hardened coppers usually suffer, or, as I prefer to believe, this speech was an opening salvo in a new and, I hope successful, attempt to outwit these despicable characters. We can only await events.