The huge tremors currently shaking the world of cricket are felt beyond the Lord’s green grass
September 16, 2010 10:22How important are games? After all, they exist in a little bubble that is divorced from real life. And those who have never entered the bubble that is cricket may struggle to understand the current outrage over the incorrect foot placement of young, professional Pakistani cricketers for a mere three of the 1,255 balls bowled in the course of one test match. They may ask whether it really matters.
Well, it does matter. It matters to millions of fans desperate for their national team to make them proud. It matters to millions of spectators worldwide whose money finances the sport and funds players' salaries. It matters to bookmakers and those who bet sometimes huge amounts on these apparent trifles. According to the head of world cricket's anti-corruption unit, it is not unusual for up to a billion dollars to be bet on a single match.
Professional sportsmen are paid to do a job, and like employees in any other business, they are bound by contractual obligation. They are bound by their contract to give their best endeavours for their teams. Indeed, human endeavour is exactly what spectators pay to see; watching opponents pit their energy, skill and guile against each other is what makes sport so gripping.
When a player gives anything less than his best, he is reneging on his contract. But what could possibly make a young and talented, professional sportsman give anything less than his best? The answer, sadly, is greed.
We may wonder why such subtle, greedy inclinations as jealousy and "coveting" are placed alongside the cardinal sins of idolatry, adultery and murder in the Ten Commandments. The answer, the classic commentaries tell us, is that, while greed may not itself be the gravest of all sins, it can cause a person to lose his moral compass.
It may or may not become clear in time whose greed has brought so much shame upon a sport that is almost sacred to so many. It may not be the players' own greed but that of others that compels them to act in the way alleged in the current scandal. Naive young athletes may simply be pawns in a much bigger game.
Whatever the truth of the Pakistani no-ball allegations turns out to be, stories abound on the subcontinent of players and their families being threatened for refusing to comply with requests to lose their wicket or throw away a particular game. But whether players have been bribed or blackmailed, either way it is greed for a share of the immense fortunes in the betting world that is at the root of such dastardly corruption.
The world of bet fixing may appear to be remote from our own lives, but we are all susceptible to flawed character traits. Who among us is immune to greed? A lack of integrity can quickly spiral into deception and fraud, and greed can rapidly descend into corruption. Jewish sources teach us that, while one good deed breeds others, one sin can begin a never-ending chain of iniquity. One minor infringement today can set the tone for years to come.
While each individual must examine his or her own flaws, it is the role of governing bodies to stamp out endemic corruption. In the business world, ongoing efforts are being made to set up protocols to encourage honesty and proscribe deceit. Sports governing bodies must also take responsibility for protecting the integrity of their particular area of life.
Rabbi Nissan Wilson is a rabbinical consultant to the Jewish Association of Business Ethics