There’s a way to fix spot-fixers, match-fixers and nation-fixers
I
believe that it is possible to argue that anyone and everyone are in the
pay of some dreadful creature, organization or political force. This is
why some otherwise intelligent and even likeable people in Trotskyite
organizations spend more time calling each other ‘running dogs of
imperialism’ than doing anything about imperialism
US Presidential candidate Ralph Nader from the Green Party is blamed
by Democrats for helping Republican win the Presidency ‘Nader broker the
anti-Bush vote!’ they claim. Well, it is not as though the Democrats
themselves are any different from the Republicans. Check out what Obama
has done, is doing and plans to do in Iraq and Afghanistan for example.
The point is, there is a way in which anyone who does not hold your
views can be made out to be an absolute villain. By the same token
anyone can defend what he/she does and even claim that the worst crimes
against humanity were actually strategized to benefit all humankind and
indeed that such objectives were in fact achieved.
Talk is talk, though. Claims can be made. They can be made believable
too.
In the end, however, ‘belief’ comes down to an individual assessing
available information and arriving at conclusion.
The problem is that we never have access to all the information
that’s out there so that we can make a decent enough judgment.
We got to make do with limited facts, less than perfect analytical
skills and navigate a maze of lies, decoys, half-truths and
advertisements blinded by spectacle as well as misleading and concealing
drabness.
We
have to factor in the reality that yesterday’s trusted comrade-at-arms
is today’s flake and tomorrow’s enemy.
We have to understand that the forces arrayed against are not just
numerous and powerful, but have great purchasing power and are often
endowed with that potent weapon called ‘lack of conscience’.
Random success
It is a tough world out there. We can’t win all the time. Indeed, we
would be lucky to score one or two victories over a single lifetime. The
least we can do, in many situations, is to ensure that the chances of
being taken for a ride are minimized. This is not easy since unsteady
information foundations don’t make for decent enough extrapolation and
can even produce nothing more than flights of fancy. How do we do this?
A friend of mine wrote to me this morning, ‘The best preventive to
taking off on flights of fancy is I guess to make predictions instead of
explaining events after they occur.
When we see suspicious signs we should predict outcomes and check
whether we are consistently right or wrong or just getting random
success.’ By way of explaining, he used cricket and the match-fixing
controversy.
He opines: ‘I have the impression that when Sri Lanka fails
spectacularly in a match there is a (coincidental?) juxtaposition,
namely, Sangakkara and Mahela both do badly and Ajantha Mendis and
Lasith Malinga (if they are both playing) bowl waywardly. Dilhara
Fernando is generally a member of losing teams. Haven’t checked this
with great care but I have a memory of something occurring frequently.’
The stats buffs out there can check this out I am sure. There’s only
so much room one can make for ‘coincidences’. If there’s a pattern, then
we are immediately alerted.
It is very subtle of course and one has to be nuanced in one’s
assessment for this very reason. It is not easy to read body language,
but it is not impossible to assume, for instance, that someone in the
pay of a bookie would react in a particular kind of way as opposed to
someone who is genuine. Not everyone can wear a disguise well.
There are slips. Wigs come off, the make up melts and the true
contours of conscience and guilt surface at unexpected moments in
unexpected ways.
The more we see, the more we learn. After some time, we discover
patterns. It is no different from tracking terrorists. You have to be
alert. You have to use all resources at your disposal. These is the age
of surveillance. People get caught.
These are days of plea bargaining. Today’s benefactor could very well
be the guy who rats on your tomorrow. There are lots of third umpires
out there. Think Hansie Cronje. Imagine him alive today. He is scarred.
In life. In death.
World cup
My friend also observes that while inconsistency is not a crime,
consistent inconsistency is. He points to Tendulkar, Sehwag, Bevan and
Imran as those who by sheer power of consistency stump match-fixing
allegations. On the other hand, even such a performer can get away with
a bit of ‘spot-fixing’ or the play of a cricketing moment.
We have to be alert. We have to watch faces. Behaviour patterns.
Subtle changes in these. A noticeable shift in preference of company and
recreational choice. Noticeable silences. Sudden changes of fortune.
Property acquisition that is hard to account for given known sources of
income. Investments in shady operations (scams such as the ones run by
Golden Key and Sakvithi were essentially about money-laundering).
Inability to look you in the eye the way you were looked in the eye
before. Crooks slip. When and where we cannot tell. If we can make them
slip, all the better. Vigilance is the most effective tripper or kakul
maattuwa. It might seem unfair to subject our cricketing heroes to this
kind of surveillance, but then again, this is an unforgiving world where
professionalism ought to include an unwavering resolve to play the game
right. Spot-fixing is certainly good money but it is not as though
today’s cricketers are destitute! Prediction helps. We have general idea
about skill levels. We all have memory. We know what was said, where and
when. We can tell when tongues bend to shine different ‘truths’.
My friend offers a prediction: ‘We will do pretty well in the world
cup or other matches that we are to face soon. Reason: players will know
that they are being watched with some suspicion after the various
allegations and will do their best and be really unlikely to throw. And
if our team genuinely does its best, we should beat any other around
these days.’ Let’s see.
I want Sri Lanka to win the next World Cup. I also want to make sure
that some two-bit traitor is not bartering our national assets for a
song or poisoning our paddy fields for a few dollars and a couple of
holidays or fattening a bank account to help the tobacco industry.
Things like that.
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