Siddons not surprised

Former Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons spoke to New Zealand newspaper Dominion Post about Mohammad Ashraful's recent revelation that he had indulged in fixing, the former coach saying that the developments did not surprise him.
Siddons said that spot-fixing, a practice through which cricketers fix certain elements of a match on the advice of bookmakers, was not uncommon in Bangladesh.
“I made my thoughts known a while ago to the cricket board and the ICC, so I wasn't surprised at all. It's disappointing but I don't think it's surprising. It's a powerful beast the underworld gambling,” Siddons, who was coach during Ashraful's two-year captaincy stint, told Dominion Post.
Siddons spoke out in support of Ashraful, indicating that circumstances may have forced the 28-year-old batsman's hand. “People like Ashraful, he's got 15 people living in his house, he feeds probably five families and on a cricketer's wage over there it's near impossible, so you can almost [understand]. It's a different world that we live in, it's a tough world for him.
“He's a great young kid so I'm really disappointed for him. He probably got roped in as a 15-year-old when he first started by some other people,” Siddons said, adding that he felt sorry for Ashraful, but in no way condoned corrupt practices.