Six months before he shot to fame in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Aaron Jones had sown the seeds of his undoing.
Jones was suspended indefinitely by the ICC on Wednesday after being found in breach of multiple sections of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code as it pertains to potential match-fixing, specifically failing to fully report an approach and obstructing an investigation. He also violated Cricket West Indies’ ACC as it relates to potential match-fixing, largely stemming from his time in the Bim10, a T10 league based in Barbados, during that league’s 2023-24 season. Most, though not all of the breaches stem from his time in the Bim10, according to reporting by Cricbuzz, Cricinfo, and Peter Della Penna. He has until February 11 to appeal.
In the immediate future, this means Jones will not be part of the USA squad when they open their T20 World Cup against India next Saturday. He was already an underdog to make the 15-man squad - announced yesterday, a full week before the first game to the pleasant surprise of many - after his MLC campaign largely fizzled and he posted underwhelming scores in what little T20 cricket the USA played last year. Jones’ discipline will likely bar him from competition far beyond February, though. Penalties for this sort of breach have varied widely, ranging from 1-5 years.
In short, Aaron Jones’ cricket career is likely over.
Match-fixing scandals are something of a rite of passage for global cricket these days: a big one means a country has arrived in the sport enough that bettors take notice of their players and games. Most countries have had one either in a franchise league, an international match, or both. They hardly stay in the headlines more than a couple of days anymore in the “Watergate-A-Day” times we live in (and the pervasive conflicts of interest that sports media now have with betting sites). Jones is not the first person to throw his career away for leagues of questionable repute, nor will he be the last. He’s not even the first American in the last two months. Akhilesh Reddy got the hammer dropped on him for attempting to fix elements of games and also recruit others to do so in the Abu Dhabi T10 back in late November, and his suspension has remained indefinite pending further review.
T10 is a relatively new format, but it has been the source of a lot of headaches for the game worldwide. While I think it has potential in environments where stacking games throughout a weekend is paramount - for example, for collegiate club teams - its value at the top end of the game is far more limited. Leagues are less of a spectacle and geared more toward the interests of digital sportsbooks that can offer odds on every possible prop bet, played in front of countless dozens of spectators at the best of times. That invites all sorts of crooks and ne’er-do-wells that will pay handsomely on top of salaries to produce certain outcomes favorable to their interests. It has hit everywhere from reserve players like Akhilesh to international veterans to team owners.
Match fixing is hardly unique to T10 cricket, and few franchise leagues have been beyond reproach on illicit betting grounds, but the problem exists disproportionately in the 10-over format where tournaments lasting as little as 10 days make enforcement challenging: the league’s business is concluded before anyone has time to act on a tip. The league might even fold before it can be investigated. These gambling-fueled pop-up shops are becoming a drag on the reputation of the sport.
While I would love to be glib and say “add it to the pile,” this is a serious issue that affects not only the credibility of the ICC as a rules and enforcement body but also the trust that an audience has that what it sees when it watches cricket is authentic. It will be much more challenging to repair the damage from this than from than ICC members using cricket as an extension of their geopolitics, for example.
The push for T10 to have international status led by a handful of boards would only serve to entrench these issues in the game and embrace the idea that, somehow, individuals hellbent on corrupting players and compromising games for their benefit can carry the game forward in any meaningful way. These leagues already go bust at an alarming rate, including one literally yesterday. Unfortunately, a more decisive option is a blanket ban on professional T10 cricket. It’s the only way to be sure.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like that solution. I am very much a big-tent person when it comes to getting cricket in front of people and creating more opportunities to play and watch the game, but I can’t keep up with all the T10 scandals that have broken over the last two years and I doubt most people at the ICC can either. When this specific branch of the sport is so rife with competitive integrity issues and general dysfunction, what choice is there?
If I can ever get my college students on the field, they will probably play 10 overs aside just to keep game time manageable, but nobody is offering them $30,000 to bowl a no-ball on the third delivery of the fourth over. This is not a fad, and it will not stop until someone with authority puts their foot down and says enough is enough. If the ICC is tired of the Indian Cricket Council jokes, pulling in the reins on T10 would be a good way to assert its authority as a steward for the game worldwide.
There is a lot worth celebrating in American cricket right now and a lot to be optimistic about for the near and far future. We just have to navigate an ocean of bad vibes to see it.