In his Marylebone Cricket Club Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture
at Lord’s, former England cricketer Ian Botham said that the Indian Premier League "is too powerful for the long-term good of the game and compounds
corruption," according to Ivo Tennant of the LONDON TIMES. Botham said, "It provides the perfect opportunity for betting and
fixing. Administrators bow to it and players are slaves to it. I
fear the IPL should not be there." Botham also criticized "the overkill" of Twenty20. He added, "A three-week
burst has worked in England and let us not crowd our calendar. The County Championship needs space and we do not need franchises" (LONDON TIMES, 9/4). In London, Andy Wilson wrote Botham "started with politics." Botham: "I’d like to downgrade the importance attached to exams and upgrade the importance of sport. Why aren’t the government focusing on sport as a necessity in the school curriculum? This subject drives me insane. ... Come on, David Cameron. When I came to Downing Street you made all the right noises and promised to come back to me with your ideas. I’m still waiting." He "was dismissive of the scalps so far" claimed by the Int'l Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit as “the odd second XI player,” saying, "To kill the serpent, you must cut off its head. The ICC must pursue the root of the problem, and if necessary expose the big names" (GUARDIAN, 9/3).
