John the bookmaker was an Indian bookmaker who gave money to Australian cricketers Mark Waugh and Shane Warne in 1994–95 for pitch and weather information. One of the most publicised betting controversies in cricket in the 1990s, the matter was initially covered up by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), which reported it to the International Cricket Council and quietly fined the players. The players and the ACB were later widely condemned by the media and public, but not generally by the sports community. The ACB requested an independent inquiry and appointed Rob O'Regan QC, who wrote that a suspension for a "significant time" would have been a more appropriate penalty. He strongly condemned the players' behaviour and recommended that cricketers be educated about the dangers of gambling and unauthorised bookmakers. The controversy prompted Pakistan to ask the two Australian players to appear in front of their own judicial inquiry into corruption; the hearings were held in Australia. Both Waugh and Warne denied the suggestion that they played with any less determination than usual in the matches.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_bookmaker_controversy

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1520:

Citizens of Toledo, Castile, who were opposed to the rule of the foreign-born Charles V, rose up in revolt when the royal government attempted to unseat radical city councilors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Comuneros

1818:

The United States Senate ratified the Rush–Bagot Treaty, which laid the basis for a demilitarized boundary between the US and British North America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush%E2%80%93Bagot_Treaty

1917:

Vladimir Lenin returned to Petrograd from Switzerland, and joined the Bolshevik movement in Russia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin

1963:

Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to an open letter written by white clergymen four days earlier. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail

2014:

The South Korean ferry MV Sewol sank 1.5 km (0.93 mi) offshore of Donggeochado, Jindo County, with 476 onboard, including 172 survivors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

catch-as-catch-can: 1. (idiomatic) Only when possible or when the opportunity presents itself; intermittent. 2. (wrestling) Relating to catch wrestling, a form of amateur freestyle wrestling. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/catch-as-catch-can

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The acquisition of any knowledge is always of use to the intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the good. For nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known.   --Anatole France https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anatole_France