Elite Cricket 'Clean'; Threat Looms Over T20 Leagues: Outgoing ICC Anti Corruption Unit Chief

Alex Marshall, the outgoing head of International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit (ACU), has said that while elite cricket is "safe and clean", threat from corruptors still looms large over "badly run" franchise leagues. (More Cricket News)

"I am confident that the cricket you watch is safe and clean," Marshall, who ends his seven-year term as ICC's ACU chief this November, told ESPN Cricinfo.

"But I am also absolutely sure that corruptors are constantly looking for a route into the game, particularly in badly-run lower-level franchise leagues. The threat to the game is corruptors won't go away while there is always money to be made and they will look for weakness in the system to get in."

Marshall, a former policeman in the United Kingdom, recently told ICC about his decision to retire as he wanted to spend more time with his family. During his tenure legendary Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, another legend from Sri Lanka Sanath Jayasuriya and former Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak were banned for different kind of breaches of the ICC's anti-corruption code

The 63-year-old retiring ACU head said that he is happy to find that more and more players are reporting corrupt approaches with the ICC ACU, ensuring them to keep the game clean.

"I am proud of the significant increase in trust from players who now report approaches to us frequently whereas there was a time when they lacked confidence in confidentiality and the action that will be taken," Marshall said.

"They have now seen corruptors being disrupted, named, banned when they get involved in cricket. And the education we now do with players shows them who the corruptors are, what their methods are, so everyone is much better equipped and protected to keep corruption away from the game."

Marshall took over from YP Singh as the fourth ACU head in September 2017. One of his early breakthroughs came in Sri Lanka where the ACU found out various kind of corrupt activities going on in the cricketing system of the country.

The probe resulted in Sri Lanka becoming the first South Asian country to criminalise several offences related to match-fixing.