The head of the world players' representative body has warned that the International Cricket Council's new powers to seize phones could jeopardise players' privacy and says he would be stunned if any Australian or England players were caught up in spot-fixing.
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The ICC's anti-corruption unit is in the early stages of a wide-ranging investigation that will stretch into five countries including Australia in an effort to discover if sensational allegations made by two alleged Indian fixers in British tabloid The Sun have any substance.
While the most shocking of the claims of Sobers Joban and Priyank Saxena - about a supposed spot-fixing plot in the third Ashes Test - was quickly played down by anti-corruption unit chief Alex Marshall last week, Australia will be a key part of the probe.
In undercover footage captured by The Sun, Joban and Saxena boasted that they could arrange fixes on three or four Big Bash League games and that a former Australian player and an Australian administrator had been involved in passing on information on BBL matches. They also alleged that an Australian fixer they called The Silent Man had current and former internationals working for him.
Marshall, a former senior British policeman, has indicated that he and his team may demand phones from "participants in cricket" and download material from them if deemed necessary.
The global players' body, the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, was consulted this year on the beefing up of the anti-corruption unit's powers to include data extraction but have warned against its misuse.
"While it's a useful tool for investigation we have warned that this may encroach on players' privacy and that is also fundamental to players," FICA chief executive Tony Irish said on Sunday.
"I think you'll only see how this works when it's actually in practice. If it's abused, then it will be challenged. If there is a very high degree of suspicion or evidence against a player then that might be something that is used."
Irish believes the major corruption threat to the sport exists not in Test cricket but in the myriad Twenty20 tournaments around the world as well as increasingly in the women's game, with under-age cricket also seen as vulnerable as fixers attempt to groom young players.
Joban, a former Indian state cricketer, and businessman and bookmaker Saxena had claimed they could also arrange fixes on the Indian Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League, providing full "scripts" for games in the latter.
Both of those competitions have been embroiled in spot-fixing controversies in recent years, as has the subcontinent's newest T20 event, the Pakistan Super League, while the BBL has been untouched in six editions by the seedy underbelly of corruption.
"Obviously [the claims] have to be thoroughly investigated," Irish said. "I'd be very surprised if any English or Australian players were involved in this sort of stuff.
"I think the risk of corruption is still much higher in the league and that is an area a lot of attention needs to be given to. There is a lot of movement of players around the world in those leagues."
Irish has proposed to the ICC that a standardised anti-corruption education program be established to cover all sanctioned T20 tournaments but says his suggestion has fallen on deaf ears at the sport's Dubai headquarters. In Australia, players receive thorough and regular education about the perils of corruption from a young age but there is concern about that level of vigilance not been matched in all other nations.
"We have been saying to the ICC there should be minimum standards across these leagues," Irish said.
"We've been disappointed in the ICC's response to that, in particular the suggestion that a global education program be put in place across the board. We proposed a mechanism to do that and there really hasn't been much interest in taking that further."
Cricket Australia's own anti-corruption unit, which directly oversees the BBL, concluded after The Sun report last week that there was no specific information or concerns about fixing in the booming summer holidays competition.
CA have been cautious with who they permit to play in the tournament, vetting every player before franchises can register them. The organisation spends about $1 million a year on on integrity matters.
