It's just not cricket. The sport that has stood for fair play and decency down the years is in disarray.

Australia's golden boys Shane Warne and Mark Waugh have admitted taking money from an Indian bookmaker in return for information on pitches and weather during a 1994 tour.

They admit being "naïve and stupid", but insist it was innocuous information and there was no question of match-fixing or bribery.

But cricketers from the game's leading nation colluding with bookmakers at all has shaken the game to its foundation and will have old school MCC men choking on their gin and tonics.

The latest revelation comes on top of a lengthy inquiry in Pakistan, where Warne and Waugh have accused Salim Malik of offering bribes to fix matches during that same 1994 tour. While that probe went on, the Australian Cricket Board kept its own problems under the covers.

Now former Pakistan captain Malik is threatening to sue Warne and Waugh over their allegations.

So is cricket tarnished for all time? Can we ever trust a result again? Should Warne and Waugh be banned, or was this just a simple blunder by a couple of players who do their best thinking on the field of play?

Experts are in little doubt. Matthew Engel, the editor of the cricket bible Wisden, believes it is one of the biggest scandals the game has ever faced.

And former England star Geoffrey Boycott claims it is "common knowledge" that certain players give bookmakers in Asia the pitch and weather information on mobile phones before Test matches.

So what do you think? Is the game in crisis, or will the storm clouds clear in time for a prompt resumption of fair play?

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