In the history of cricket, the first match was fixed in 1817, around 194 years a

go, and the first cricket star was banned for life at that time. On the other ha
nd, British officers resorted to spot fixing in order to win a match against a l
ocal team in India in 1893.
Interestingly, the Lord s Cricket Ground, the best-known cricket playground, was u
sed for the first time for spot fixing in 1817. Subsequently, a professional Eng
lish player was banned for his involvement in the scandal.
William Lambert was a professional first class cricket star in the first two dec
ades of the 19th century, who played from 1801 to 1817. He was the best all-roun
der at that time as a right-handed batsman, underarm slow bowler, wicketkeeper a
nd a marvelous fielder. He was born at Burstow, Surrey, England in 1779 and died
in Surrey, England in 1851.Lambert mostly played matches for Surrey, but also p
layed for other clubs, such as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which was the main
club at that time. He also played many single-wicket matches as well. The MCC w
as the authority on cricket policy at that time and it determined game rules and
imposed bans on players.
Lambart was the first batsman in cricket history to score two centuries in one m
atch at the Lord s playground. Unfortunately it proved to be the last match of his
career. He was banned for life from playing cricket, following allegations of m
atch-fixing in another match, which was played at the same ground earlier.
According to the first-class match s record of William Lambert, he scored 3,014 ru
ns with four centuries and 16 fifties. His batting average was 27.65.
Lord Frederick was his (William Lambert) rival in cricket, who played first-clas
s cricket from 1791 to 1825. Frederick lost a match against William who defeated
him tactically after throwing wide-balls in 1810. Later, in revenge, Frederick
used his influence in the MCC to change the rules and ban wide-balls in 1811.
According to the records, Lord Frederick captained an all-England team in a high
ly controversial match at the Lord s, Nottingham in 1817, while William Lambert wa
s heading the Nottingham side.
Match-fixing allegations were leveled by both sides against each other after the
match. However, Lord Frederick being influential produced a witness against Lam
bert and the MCC then imposed a life-ban on Lambert.
Cricket was considered the game of the gentlemen throughout its history of aroun
d 700 years when the game was a great entertainment for the lords of England esp
ecially in the Victorian period. However, in the last 30 to 40 years, a number o
f cricket players have been embroiled in serious match-fixing scandals.
England exported cricket to its colonial territory, India (before partition) in
the 19th century and along with it, the tradition of match-fixing also took root
s in the subcontinent. In 1893, British players and officials tried to use an In
dian player for winning a match between Englishmen and a local team of Champaner
, Gujarat.
At that time, there was a great drought in the area. In order to have their taxe
s written off, the locals approached the British commanding officer, Captain And
rew Russell, who turned them down. Later, he put forth a proposition that the go
vernment would not collect taxes for the next three years, if the British team w
as defeated in a cricket match by the locals, who were not familiar with the gam
e.
The locals accepted the challenge for the sake of their tax-free future. Bhaven,
a native of the area, led the local team, which at the start was totally unawar
e of cricket rules. Fortunately, Captain Andrew s sister, Lady Elizabeth, helped t
he Indians by teaching them the rules of the game.
During the match, the British officials were involved in spot-fixing when they t
rapped a local player, Lakha, and asked him to show his worst performance in ord
er to make his team lose the match.
Lakha, true to his word, dropped many catches during the match apart from adopti
ng other methods to ensure that the locals lost the match.
After a tight contest, the local team somehow managed to defeat the British offi
cers and won the tax reprieve. India has also made a film on the same issue, whi
ch received international recognition. That was the actual start of spot or fanc
y-fixing and the same issue now haunts the Pakistan cricket team.