Stani Army

Mohammad Amir - A young man that needs to get back on the straight and narrow

Almost two months into their sentences, there’s been much debate about whether Mr Justice Cooke got the sentences right for Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. Yet certainly in Amir’s case, this isn’t about the length of sentence or the punishment itself, even.

If his sentence does not reform him, then Amir may have been a corrupt cheater, but the failings against him would have been far worse – and that’s without considering how such a young, talented man was failed before the spot-fixing scandal broke.

Justice should not be just about punishment. Real justice should have an element of rehabilitation to it. It’s not only about the punishment, but more importantly, it’s about the lesson. Will the custodial sentences handed out to Butt, Asif and Amir teach them that what they did was wrong? In Butt and Asif’s case, I’m not really bothered, but Mohammed Amir will have many years ahead of him in cricket, and his sentence would have needed to act as education to him too.

In an interview with Sky Sports News a while ago, Michael Atherton spoke about how Amir should be given a second chance and welcomed back into cricket after he has served his sentence and ICC ban. I would be inclined to agree with that, but Amir would have to have fundamentally changed as a person by then.

Throughout the scandal, up until the court case, Amir along with Butt and Asif has been pleading his innocence despite all the evidence against him. Even now, we still hear interviews from the families of all three men, saying how their sons are innocent and haven’t done anything wrong. How can this be?

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Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif have both been found guilty on the charges of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments. Earlier this morning, the jury had reached its verdict on both charges with regards to Salman Butt, yet were sent out to deliberate again on the charge of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments in regards to Asif, since agreement could not be reached. In the last hour, they returned a guilty verdict on this charge also.

Both Butt and Asif were found guilty by a unanimous verdict in regards to the charge of conspiracy to cheat, and by a 10-2 majority verdict in regards to the charge of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.

The three players now await sentencing

Conspiracy to cheat carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and/or an unlimited fine. Conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments carries the heavier sentence of up to seven years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

The judge will now consider the verdict before the sentences will be pronounced later this week. In the mean time, both players remain on bail.

It has also emerged that Mohammed Amir had pleaded guilty to the charges on September the 16th, yet the news was not allowed to be reported due to court restrictions in place that would prevent the verdict of jurors from being unfairly influenced in regards to Butt and Asif.

At the time, Amir’s barrister Ben Emmerson QC said “Amir wants to make it clear he wants to take full responsibility for what he did by bowling two deliberate no-balls. This vulnerable 18-year-old boy

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Likely custodial sentences will come as a shock to the players

The jury in the spot fixing case has currently retired to consider its verdict, leaving many Pakistan fans wondering about the nature of any possible sentence should Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif be found guilty.

The two players in court are facing charges of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat. Mohammed Amir and agent Mazhar Majeed had themselves earlier this year pleaded guilty to the charges.

Obtaining and accepting corrupt payments is an offence contrary to section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. It carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Cheating is an offence contrary to section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005. It carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

The maximum sentence for the above two offences does not only apply to the offence itself, but also to the conspiracy to commit such an offence, as is alleged in the case of Butt and Asif. So which kind of sentence are the players likely to receive?

The first thing we would have to consider is whether the duo is likely to be found guilty of the alleged offences. Personally, I feel that the writing is on the wall for a number of reasons. The ICC has already found them guilty of spot fixing and handed out their punishments. Though far from a legal court, their investigations must have had some proof to go on for them to hand out such long term bans.

Then there is the fact that both Amir and Majeed have admitted to spot fixing i.e. basically admitting that a crime had taken place. Their confession therefore implies that Butt and Asif would have been involved to some degree. Before sending the jury out to deliberate, Justice Cooke’s direction to aid the jury in their decision making was: “You can proceed on the basis that Majeed and Amir were involved in the spot-fixing at Lord’s, as all parties agree that is the case”.

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Mohsin Khan - A defensive minded coach?

What I saw last Saturday is something I never want associated with Pakistan cricket, and neither is it something I would want to see in sport in general, or in any contest for that matter. To not even try, however small the chance of victory, defies the purpose of playing any sport.

As the Pakistan batsmen came out to bat needing 170 off 21 overs in the final innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka, their fans around the world sat riveted to their TV screens, anticipating an enthralling run chase. But as ball after ball was blocked, it was obvious that going for the win was not what was discussed amongst the Pakistan team management in the interval.

When asked after the game, interim coach Mohsin Khan’s response was “…we felt we didn’t want to make a mess of things…We decided that given the field set, we would opt to bat out time”. Now this is in stark contrast to what the coach was saying just a few days earlier. When speaking of the ‘successful risk’ the Pakistan selectors had taken in picking a young squad for the recent tour of Zimbabwe, Khan said “To achieve a big goal, you have to take risks…As a selector, or now a coach, I won’t be afraid of taking a risk”. Easier said than done, right Mohsin?

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Mohammad Amir – Clearly missing the game he brought in to disrepute

My first reaction to the news that Mohammad Amir had been caught playing in an official cricket game despite serving his five year ban for spot-fixing, was that the reaction of the media and authorities was excessive. Having considered everything, I am now beginning to wonder if Amir knew exactly what he was doing. Just like when he became involved in spot-fixing, and just like when he denied the allegations and backed Salman Butt, was Amir once again showing the same sheer disregard for rules and authority as he did back then?

When the ICC handed out the punishment to Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Amir, the one key difference in the punishments was that both Butt and Asif had received a suspended sentence as part of their bans. Amir did not receive a suspended term. A suspended term meant that should Butt and Asif be caught engaging in further breaches of the code whilst they were banned, the suspended sentence would be triggered and that period of the suspended sentence would then have to also be served. It thus raises the question would Amir have played in such a game if he did have an extra suspended sentence on top of the five years he received? Would he have been so careless about what he was doing?

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Blind support for Afridi will only encourage bad behaviour

Fans of Shahid Afridi are beginning to portray him as a hero, someone that has sacrificed himself to get rid of the big problem in Pakistan cricket today, Mr Ijaz Butt the chairman. The question is, was Afridi really motivated by getting rid of Butt or has it always been about Afridi and his bitterness over being removed as ODI captain?

When Afridi was removed as captain, Butt stated that he had good reasons to do so and would reveal them in due course. It seems now, from statements made by coach Waqar Younis and manager Intikhab Alam that the reasons were to do with Afridi’s attitude and behaviour both on and off the field. Afridi responded to his sacking  as captain by announcing his conditional retirement, the condition being that the current Pakistan board be removed. His reason for retiring was that he had been humiliated by them. Losing the captaincy for reasons not made public is hardly a humiliation. Supporters of Afridi should remember that it was in fact just him losing the captaincy and that he wasn’t banned from playing and representing his country, and was in fact in the squad for the two ODIs against Ireland. Afridi chose to abandon his country on his own accord. It is why his later excuse that he’d play under any captain doesn’t quite wash.

Of course he did not quit immediately after being stripped of the leadership. He chose to sit out the Irish games using the reason that his father was ill. The problem was that he then turned up a few days later in England, ready to take up his county stint with Hampshire. In Afridi’s head his plan seemed to be going well, that is until the PCB decided to suspend his contract and revoke his No-Objection Certificate (NOC) after he announced his retirement on television with a few scathing remarks towards the board and coach. The revoking of the NOC caused Afridi to run home to Pakistan with his tail between his legs begging for it to be reauthorised. As soon as his NOC was revoked, all of a sudden he was ready to admit breaking the code of conduct and was keen to participate in any other action from the board, whereas before, he couldn’t care less.

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Misbah Ul-Haq - A man the whole of Pakistan should get behind and be proud of

In captain Misbah Ul-Haq, Pakistan now have the kind of man they have long needed to lead them. Described by Geoff Lawson as having “the best cricket brain and intellect in Pakistan cricket”, Misbah should have been playing for and leading his country a very long time ago. Yet what is perplexing is the amount of criticism he has received recently.

Misbah’s calmness in personality is something that is seen in his batting. It’s been a signature of Misbah to start off slow before accelerating, which has resulted in getting Pakistan out of some big holes in the past. Of course, the danger is that if he falls early in such an innings, he is then open to criticism for playing too slow.

Much of his recent criticism stems from such an innings in the World Cup Semi-Final against India where he was not able to go on and take Pakistan to victory. To criticise him so much for one unsuccessful innings is absurd, and indirectly absolves those batsmen who failed not only in that game but throughout the tournament, a tournament in which Misbah finished as Pakistan’s leading scorer.

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