Cricket launches anti-corruption blacklist

Cricket Australia’s anti-corruption unit has created a blacklist of people suspected of having links to illegal bookmakers on the subcontinent after being forced to eject alleged “pitchsiders” from games in the past three summers. News of the blacklist emerged as Cricket Australia and former players responded with scepticism yesterday to reports that illegal bookmakers had been thwarted in their bid to fix the third Ashes Test in Perth. “I don’t think there is much merit in this,” former Test star Mike Hussey said about The Sun newspaper’s claim to have busted a match-fixing ring on the eve of the game. “I won’t believe it until I see some hard evidence.”