Criticism of the International Cricket Council's unpreparedness for policing of its game against corruption, the warning of the need to tidy up drug use and abuse and a desire to rid the game of match-fixing by 2003 are all part of the Sir Paul Condon report made public today.

He has made 24 recommendations to the ICC for implementation.

However, he warned: "If the ICC continues as a loose and fragile alliance it is unlikely to succeed as a governing body.

"It must become a modern, regulatory body with the power to lead and direct international cricket. All the constituent cricket boards, in the member countries, must show equal determination to deal with the ongoing challenge of corruption."

He has set a goal of having corruption under control "and reduced to an absolute minimum" by the World Cup in 2003.

However, he admitted this would be entirely dependent on Indian bookmaker M K Gupta co-operating with the investigations after the claims he made in an Indian investigation last year.

It would also be necessary to work with the Indian police authorities to find the link between organised crime and match-fixing and to investigate possible criminal offences in relation to the awarding of television rights for the ICC KnockOut tournament in Bangladesh in 1998.

New investigations into allegations of corruption uncovered in recent months will be made.

"These new investigations are not in the public domain and relate to players, former international players, umpires and other people linked to cricket," Condon said.

He did report that Pakistan's tour of New Zealand was under investigation and also the ICC KnockOut tournament in Nairobi last year.

In a wide-ranging summary of all that has been done since he started his investigation nearly 12 months ago, Condon has exposed a high level of naivete in cricket that has resulted in the advance of corruption.

"Ignorance has also been the enemy of a more robust approach from within cricket. I have spoken to worldly wise and mature individuals whom I genuinely believe had no idea what was going on, in terms of corruption, even though it took place close to them," he said.

Condon makes a series of recommendations, including stepping up security around players by appointing security officers and making it impossible for contact with members of the public.

• Player education right to lower age groups was suggested.
• Restricting the use of mobile phones was also recommended.
• Extra vigilance should be taken at ODIs played at neutral venues.
• More participation by players in the game's administration.
• A more consistent form of player contract.
• The implementation, as soon as possible, of an elite panel of fulltime professional umpires by the ICC.
• The funding of a permanent anti-corruption unit by the ICC.
• An opening up of the ICC administrative practices.
• The ICC to deal with conflict of interest issues among its members.
• A strict implementation of the Ambassadors programme to developing nations.
• Powers allowing the new chief executive to put in place an implementation programme for the recommendations by 2003.

"If my recommendations are implemented, the ACU will have the ability to prevent corruption by monitoring and frustrating the attempts by corruptors in real time and not just responding to past events.

"We will be in a stronger position to catch people in the act of corruption and this will lead to criminal and disciplinary proceedings," he said.

Condon linked the outbreak of match-fixing with the arranging of first-class matches in England during the 1970s.

"Players were not bribed with money but relied on mutual interest. If a match was of vital importance to one team and not to the other then an accommodation would be reached between the teams as to who would win," he said.

"As a result, in a number of matches the ethic of winning or losing on merit was replaced by a pragmatic arrangement to divide the points and/or agree in advance who would win.

"There is some evidence to suggest these 'friendly' fixes took place but it is harder to prove they were the genesis of corruption for financial reasons linked to betting," he said.

But it was the 1978 series between Pakistan and India, the first since 1960/61 that attracted the interest of gamblers.

Every match was vulnerable to manipulation and fixing, normally through under-performance, he said.

"Often these fixed and corrupt incidents within a match have little or no effect on the final outcome of the game and consequently are harder to detect. Nevertheless, the betting coup takes place and the corrupt participants receive payment for the part they have played. For ease of reference I tend to call this phenomenon 'occurrence fixing'" he said.

Areas vulnerable were:

• The outcome of the toss at the beginning of a match
• The end from which the fielding captain will elect to bowl
• A set number of wides, or no balls occurring in a designated over
• Players being placed in unfamiliar fielding positions
• Individual batsmen scoring fewer runs than their opposite numbers who batted first
• Batsmen being out at a specific point in their innings
• The total runs at which a batting captain will declare
• The timing of a declaration
• The total runs scored in a particular innings and particularly the total in the first innings of a One-Day International

In relation to drug abuse he said a number of allegations from varied sources and locations in the world had been made about the unlawful use of performance enhancing drugs, or recreational use of unlawful drugs.

He suggested players had also been involved in the carrying of drugs in their cricket bags.

"This should provide a further wake up call to the ICC to ensure it monitors the potential for drug abuse in cricket," he said.

There were specific occasions when games were ripe for match-fixing.

• Where little is at stake, other than pride. Typically the last match in a series which has already been won convincingly by a team and substantial odds are being offered against them being beaten by the weaker side.
• One-Day Internationals in tournaments where one of the sides playing has either already qualified for the next stage of the tournament or already been eliminated.
• One-Day International tournaments on neutral territory

Only two countries have completed the player declaration forms required by the ACU. They were to be returned to the unit by November last year.

Of the responses 21 admitted knowledge of corrupt practices. Ten of those listed were known to the ACU, six did not require further follow up and five others are being investigated.

"I conclude that the self declaration process was not worth the logistical effort and outcome and there are better ways to test and ensure compliance with ethical standards in cricket," Condon said.

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