London, Sep 5 : England Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood has urged the authorities to take “strong” decisions to eradicate corruption from the sport.
“The atmosphere on Sunday was one of sadness. It makes you feel sick in many ways. As cricketers, you play the game to compete against the opposition and to have 100 per cent competition between the two sides,” Sky News quoted Collingwood, as saying.
“They are only allegations, but if that rivalry was ever taken away a little bit by spot-fixing or match-fixing, it doesn’t feel like a real competition any more and that’s the sad thing. That’s why we want strong decisions and to have this eradicated from the game.”
“If we make strong enough decisions and people who have been doing it are punished in the right way then you find out the difference between right and wrong,” he added
He also urged his team-mates to help the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s anti-corruption unit, if they had evidence or suspicions of corruption in cricket.
“Gradually, as things come out, it may be up to the players to tell the authorities if they think something is going on,” Collingwood said.
“Not just players — commentators, umpires, all of us have a job to do in the end to get rid of all this. If I was approached by anybody, I would certainly tell somebody about it,” he added.
© ANI
