Cronje is one of the few players censured

There were ongoing inquiries into players not named in the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation published last year.

And some of those players are still involved in international cricket.

He is, however, not at liberty to name names.

Standing behind the shield of defamation and the threat of hindering any possible legal action down the line may be the responsible course to take but it did nothing to stop the cloud hanging over players.

Sir Paul confirmed that he was still concerned that the outcome of matches had been fixed in the last year since his unit was set up.

But again, he refused to name the matches under investigation for fear of jeopardising inquiries.

Sir Paul and the ICC both want to concentrate on the future and ensure outside forces cannot influence the outcome of cricket matches.

But without a resolution to the current inquiries, one eye will always be looking to the past.

Azharuddin was banned for his alleged part

An ultimatum to bookmaker MK Gupta to present his claims to the anti-corruption unit by 1 July appears a desperate attempt to garner information so some action can be taken against players.

Individual cricket authorities in India, Pakistan and South Africa have staged investigations and punished those it has found guilty of wrong doings.

Pakistan are now into their second probe into suggestions that matches were fixed in the 1999 World Cup.

Hansie Cronje was banned for life, Salim Malik likewise and India's Mohammad Azharuddhin had the same punishment while others were also censured.

Various other inquiries in New Zealand, Sri Lanka and West Indies have yet to announce their findings.

"There is still much to do, but the implementation of the ACU Report begins from today and we will be judged by the progress we make on it over the next 12 months," ICC president Malcolm Gray said.

The ICC appears powerless, however, to actually do anything other than back a report that gives recommendations on the way forward, but fails to put a seal on the match-fixing saga.

Until that is done, and the guilty parties punished and the innocent cleared, can cricket ever recover the faith of its fans?