England batsman Ian Bell has urged the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to put in force more measures against match-fixing after voicing fears that players could be on the phone to bookmakers all day if they wanted to be.
Following the revelations from former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent that fixing has occurred in five domestic leagues he has played in, the need for county cricket to be on its guard is greater than ever.
According to the Mirror, Bell believes that there is wide gap between the actions taken at international level and those at domestic games while trying to stamp out the 'cancer' of fixing and feels that more can be done at the domestic and county level like ordering players to hand over phones before the start of the day.
The report said that international players must hand their mobile phones in to their security officer at the start of the day and get them back after play is over, but even for televised county matches there is no such requirement.
Bell expressed his fears that in county and other domestic games, players could be on the phone to bookies trying to fix games without any fear of being caught as there are no rules in place regarding this fact.
However, the ECB defended its stance saying that even though they are constantly vigilant, they do not believe that corruption is endemic in county cricket and as such, do not feel the need to take away players' mobile phones or laptops at televised county matches.
