Chandigarh, Sep 21: Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Tuesday said cricket has taken a "battering" after spot-fixing allegations against Pakistan team came to light and the ICC should get to the bottom of the allegations quickly.
"No doubt the game has taken a battering as a result of these allegations ... the game can't afford to have any sort of these allegations. That's one thing the game can't stand," Ponting said at a press conference after arriving here yesterday for the two-match Test series against India.
"It is important that ICC gets to the bottom of these allegations as quickly as possible. The sooner the issue is dealt with the better it will be for the game of cricket. If there are players who are involved in anything like that (alleged spot-fixing) then they need to be dealt in an appropriate manner," he said.
World cricket plunged into its deepest-ever crisis last month after spot-fixing allegations led to the suspension of three Pakistani players -- Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir. Ponting, however, was not in favour of banning the whole of Pakistan team, saying that will not solve the problem.
"We need to have a strong Pakistan team playing international cricket as well as for betterment of the game. To keep Pakistan out of international cricket or the World Cup will have a bigger affect on everything," he said. He said Australia and India need to play "best brand of cricket" to portray the game in good light amid the crisis the world cricket has been facing," he said.
"It is important to stand up and have some positive things being said about the game of cricket," Ponting said. On Pakistan Cricket Board hitting back at the ICC and the England Cricket Board, Ponting refused comment saying that the investigations were going on.
Asked if any Aussie player had been approached by any bookie in the past, Ponting said, "The Australian team is very well educated on that side. We haven't been approached by anyone. We are briefed very well by our team management from time to time regarding the do's and dont's and what's acceptable and what's not acceptable." PTI
