The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), is aiming to strengthen its integrity fight, partnering with independent crime-fighting agency CrimeStoppers to launch a confidential corruption hotline, titled – ‘The Cricket Integrity Line’.
The new hotline, which has been unveiled to coincide with the kick-off for the English cricket season, allows both players and officials to ‘report suspicious activity anonymously’.
The integrity hotline will be managed by CrimeStoppers, with cricket stakeholders reassured that all information submitted will be reviewed and scrutinised by the sport’s officials before any formal investigation can be launched.
In 2016, the ECB would become a member of cricket’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), collaborating on match corruption and integrity issues alongside First Class Cricket Clubs (FCCC), Women’s Cricket, FCCC Academies, the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The Cricket Integrity Line arrives at a key period for English cricket, as the ECB commits to launching its new ‘100 balls per team’ format ‘The Hundred’ (working title) next year.
Seeking to engage cricket with broader audiences, The Hundred league will see eight city-based franchise teams, each of which will field both a men’s and women’s team, with the competition broadcast on Sky Sports.
