Former state cricketer John Rogers has rubbished talk of match fixing infiltrating Australian cricket as controversy swirls around the Ashes series.
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Rogers spent five years in the Australian first class system with Western Australian and Tasmania and never witnessed corruption creeping into the game.
The Weston Creek Molonglo skipper scored a match-winning 179* (164) against Ginninderra in the Cricket ACT Douglas Cup at Stirling Oval on Saturday, and is adamant the education programs Cricket Australia have in place mean national competitions like the Big Bash League will maintain an unblemished record.
English newspaper The Sun sent shockwaves through cricket when it alleged two men were planning to spot-fix the third Ashes Test via a figure dubbed "The Silent Man", supposedly in the Australian camp.
Rogers was sceptical of reports bookmakers had players working for them at the WACA, as was ICC anti-corruption unit chief Alex Marshall, who says there is no evidence to suggest the match was corrupt.
"On face value I would say there's not much to it at all, it looks like a tabloid newspaper in England grabbing some headlines," Rogers said.
"Given the amount of money and amount of time that all professional athletic sporting bodies put into educating athletes on anti-corruption among other things, I'd find it very, very surprising.
"The [Australian Cricketers Association] and Cricket Australia together hold an induction day every year. All the new blokes that come on to professional contracts goes on the induction day.
"They do a really good job jointly of educating everyone not only on match fixing and corruption, but on mental health, media training, social media and that sort of stuff.
"They do a really good job of giving players good awareness, good education and all those things that perhaps might not be as important in normal day to day life."
Rogers has been a cut above the rest since returning to Canberra and the 30-year-old will lead Weston Creek Molonglo into the Cricket ACT one-day John Gallop Cup grand final against ANU at Stirling Oval on Sunday.
Rogers says Cricket Australia swoop onto players as soon as they arrive on the domestic scene to educate them, which was the case with his younger brother Tom this season.
Tom Rogers has excelled in his debut season on the domestic scene with Tasmania and will look to continue his rise for the Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL.
His older brother says it is vital the game's governing body teaches players early because so many young stars come into the game with a lack of "life experience".
"They get the head of the anti-corruption unit in to talk and he's a fairly serious dude as you can imagine. They basically get a lot of people in to talk about their own experiences," Rogers said.
"In the anti-corruption cases, it's the head of the unit telling you about people who have done the wrong thing and what has happened to them. There's a fair element of scare tactics in it but it kind of works."
