Not Quite Cricket by Pradeep Magazine, Published by Penguin Books (India), also available in England.

In an era of turmoil at international level the challenge to authority hangs nowhere more heavily than it does on the Asian sub-continent: where board room and dressing room turmoil has created a suspicious mind and culture of corruption.

Which may have required skill and a little courage to investigate, and further backbone to write about and publish the findings, but the finished product is as damning as it is revealing. Uncovering this evil-smelling snakepit of intrigue is Indian sports writer, Pradeep Magazine, of the Indian Express whose timely book on the subject comes at a time when the Pakistan Cricket Board is dismissed by the government and Sri Lanka board is in turmoil over charges of ``rigged voting''.

Although, contrary to popular opinion, the game would still manage to do quite well these days without the intervention of politics, shady deals and bookies trying to make a bigger buck out of the game than they should be allowed, those acting as custodians of the sport need to answer charges levelled at their competency.

Pradeep's examination of the record is deep and quite frightening as the BCCI try to hide facts and deny there is a serious disease spreading at their inadequate handling of the remedy. There are times when the charges arraigned are serious enough to warrant a second probe into the affairs of the board.

This well documented review of affairs reveals much official bungling and blundering: showing the board to be a bit like an Indian innings in a limited-overs slogs, full of promise and eloquent strokes but short on finish and depth. Now the International Cricket Council has asked the BCCI to release the report by a former Mumbai judge, Y V Chandrachud, an erstwhile chief justice of India, on his investigation into match-fixing allegations. Naturally the problem here is that (like South Africa soccer with a probe which uncovered widespread dishonesty) the Indian board is unlikely to release a report condemning failure and corruption in their ranks.

As with the ABC, after last year's belated admission 'of guilt' by Shane Warne and Mark Waugh that they took money from Asian bookies to pass on such hot tips as ground, pitch and weather conditions, the BCCI have managed to hold down the image of being a chauvinistic, secret society.

At least, however, the ACB have emerged as more convincing villains by finally admitting to the cover up, while their fining of Warne and Warne is light weight compared to what normally comes from their offices at that vast building known as the MCG.

Well, 20 years ago, whether Packer is, or was, a creep was no longer the real issue: he had succeeded in winning the ACB contract and his commercial panjandrums were making a mint out of the game. What was starting to count was how the issue of the new-age professionalism on a word-wide basis and the release of player power were powerful interacting forces. The bigger bucks were becoming more important.

Brian Lara's West Indies side, split as it was at the start of the tour of South Africa over the industrial action for a better deal, is one of the many areas where player power has been used to create an image of strength, when in fact it is one where some players have benefited at the expense of others.

Naturally there are different opinions about the upwardly mobile forces which have governed the game since June 1996. A side bar example is that there was the impression in England this year that Tony Blair had replaced the tougher line of real politick with something which had an avant garde politick formula, weak and without substance.

If, say, John Arlott was right when he wrote in the mid-1960s that changes in the game reflected changes in society then our recent social blessings have indeed been mixed and badly blemished with 'telephone call deals'.

This does not mean that those in the ICC, PCB, ACB, BCCI, Sri Lanka, or for that matter the United Cricket Board should be allowed to shuffle their moral responsibility and compromise the game because some guys earned a few extra dollars by being asked to hand over information which could have been collected from weather reports or keeping an eye on newspaper reports.

What we have had this year are the sub-continental powers trying to take some heat out of their own inquisition by placing the focus on a new area of discontent. Banning players is not going to help: whether is for two or five years or life. It's a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as it started to sink.

Pakistan, whether they like it or not, have long given the impression of crying wolf as the administration in that country fails to sort out a simple problem of the truth over match fixing claims, many of which are being substantiated.    Pradeep's own probe into the Indian bribery claims are as revealing as they are timely and can turn it into one of the top books of the game this year. And coming as it does with so much uncertainty surrounding the sport on the sub-continent is a concern to all those who have developed an affection for the area and peoples. Which is why it is disturbing to learn how an underprivileged player no longer has a chance to come through the ranks.

Just how deep was his investigation can be seen in his acknowledgements with name such as former Tests stars Bishen Singh Bedi and Kapil Dev and Ranji Trophy players Ajay Sharma and Sarkar Talwar. There are reported discussions with Sachin Tendulkar and opinions of shadowy BCCI officials.

Hopefully Pradeep's revealing insight of the ills of the game at all levels in India will work for the betterment of the sport and not egocentric belief. He has unmasked some culprits, but there are more worms in a rotting woodwork in need of treatment.