The five security managers appointed by the International Cricket Council to help stamp out corruption in the game are meeting for the first time this week.

They are attending an induction conference in London organised by the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit, which is headed by Lord Condon, the former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

The conference will provide a full briefing on all aspects of their role, plus confidential information the work of the ACU since its formation two years ago in the wake of the match-fixing scandal which tarnished the game's reputation.

Each Security Manager has been assigned two Test-playing nations and they will attend all future series played there.

The five are:

Bob Smalley (England and West Indies) Former officer in the Metropolitan police and member of the Anti-Corruption Unit staff.

Arnie de Beer (South Africa and Zimbabwe) Former superintendent in charge of the South African police VIP Protection Unit in Pretoria.

Lt. Col. Nuruddin Khawaja (Pakistan and Bangladesh) Manager of Domestic Cricket for the Pakistan Cricket Board since 1999, he previously spent 28 years in the army.

John Rhodes (Australia and New Zealand) Former inspector with New South Wales police. Toured as risk management advisor for the Australian rugby union team and was also seconded to the Sydney Olympics organising committee.

NS Virk (India and Sri Lanka) Former superintendent with India's Central Bureau of Investigation, which produced a report on corruption in cricket in November 2000.

They are contracted to the ICC on a full-time basis and if both teams assigned to a security manager are playing at the same time one of the other managers will provide cover.

"The international game now has a highly professional security infrastructure that will provide cricket with a discreet but effective long term deterrent," said Lord Condon.

"The aim is to rid cricket from corruption once and for all, but in a fashion that does not inhibit the enjoyment of players and those who follow the game."

The appointment of security managers was one of the recommendations in Lord Condon's interim report, published in April last year.