Andy Pakes looks at the emergence of Australia's James Pattinson and compares him to his England-capped brother Darren.
Sam Holloway looks at why test match cricket is not going to become extinct just yet
Manraj Bahra looks at the subtle differences between the forms of cricket and how teams shouldn't look to pick the same players in all forms.
Manraj Bahra looks at what Indian fans desire in their perfect cricketer
When three no-balls were bowled by Pakistani bowlers Asif and Amir last year in the Lords test against England, nobody could have imagined the possible implications they would carry. Little did anyone know that these no balls were about to make somebody very rich, with Amir, Asif and captain Salman Butt taking more than healthy cuts for their work. As the story emerged, the players in question were banned from playing by the relevant authorities and a criminal inquiry opened. Yet as this inquiry comes to an end, more questions have emerged that will need answering before cricket can move on.
The burning question surrounding all this is just how susceptible are Pakistani players to the lures of illegal bookmakers or agents looking to make money through betting scams? We have always been told that it is these people that exploit the naivety of young cricketers who operate without appropriate protection. However today, the court heard a different story from the agent at the heart of the recent scandal, Mazhar Majeed. He claimed that Pakistan captain Butt and another Pakistani international player that has not been involved in this trial actually approached him over fixing parts of cricket matches. If this is true, then cricket has a much bigger, much more dangerous problem on its hands.
The implications of this accusation mean that there is the potential for cricketers still involved in the game to be actively seeking out people to help them fix parts of matches, and will be an issue of pressing concern for the ICC. The problem is that without names or an undercover reporter to expose such scams, there is only a limited amount that the ICC can do.
Nobody can underestimate just how serious this scandal is, and there is a very real chance that prison sentences will be handed out tomorrow. Will it make a difference? Well, as former England captain Michael Vaughan pointed out, it will send a strong message to anyone else involved in illegal activities that there are serious sanctions to getting caught.
Potentially the most interesting aspect of all this is yet to come. England are due to play Pakistan this winter for the first time since that fatal series last summer, and it will be very interesting to see how that series plays out and whether or not it will be marred by these problems. No matter what happens tomorrow, there is a real fear that Pakistani cricket will continue to be blighted by corruption allegations in the future, and that is perhaps the biggest crime of all.
Update - The agent involved in the allegations was today sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison. Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months, Mohammad Asif was sentenced to 1 year and Mohammad Amir was given 6 months in prison. All the players could have their sentences cut in half for good behaviour.
They are severe sentences, but then again this was a serious crime. It shows that not only the cricket authorities but the legal authorites stand firm that corruption cannot exist within the game. The only player I feel for is Amir, who filed a guilty plee and was only 18 at the time of the allegations. Taking cricket away from him would have probably been enough, and he was more than likely pressured into the scam by people who wanted to play on his vulnerability as a young cricketer looking to make a name for himself on the international stage. Well, in retrospect, all three cricketers certainly made names for themselves, just in completely the wrong way.
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report