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?

Amir’s response was: “I would not be stupid enough to knowingly play in a match that I knew would contravene my ban”, yet we all know how capable Amir is of being stupid. He was stupid enough to engage in spot-fixing and bowl no-balls a foot over the crease. He was stupid enough to plead not guilty and back the corrupt Salman Butt despite the overwhelming evidence against them and the huge amount of sympathy around for Amir. He was stupid enough to destroy such a promising career for a few extra pounds. So we do know how stupid you can be Amir.

The question now is does he deserve to be punished further for flouting the rules of his ban? And if so, which kind of punishment would serve the purpose of him learning his lesson? Would extending his ban be too harsh a punishment? Or would a fine or the addition of a suspended sentence suffice? Certainly if he is brought to book, the club and league in question need to be looked at too for allowing him to play.

'It's all sorted!'

After a meeting between Ijaz Butt and Younis Khan, Younis has been cleared to resume his international cricket and has been drafted in to the limited-overs squad for the games in the UAE against South Africa. It comes just at the right time as Mohammad Yousuf looks likely to miss the series with a groin problem.

It does seem as if Mr Butt is beginning to alter his modus operandi after some forced introspection which followed his allegations against the England team. Yet his ‘apology’ to the ECB, and now his offer of an olive branch to Younis looks more as though he is desperate to cling on to his role. Whatever was discussed in the meeting between Younis and Butt, I would have been surprised if it came out that Younis was the one of the two to have backed down.

Along with the ICC’s warning to Pakistan to sort it’s administration out, I get the feeling that Ijaz Butt has been given a set of demands from within, that he has to comply with if he wants to stay on as Chairman, and like the dignified man that he is, he has climbed down from his position and accepted. This is in the same week in which the ICC’s task force in charge of bringing cricket back to Pakistan, will also be setting out some recommendations for the PCB to implement. Is Butt set to stay on for a new term as PCB Chairman? We hope not, but the signs do not look good.

The PCB's 'legal eagle', Tafazzul Rizvi

I don’t know much about Pakistan’s legal adviser Mr Tafazzul Rizvi, but something tells me he doesn’t enjoy striking whilst the iron is hot. The ICC have cleared Pakistan of any wrong doing in the ODI against England at the Oval, yet all we see coming from the Pakistan camp is an expression of relief. It appears this was a completely false newspaper allegation made by an English tabloid at a sensitive time and was a kick in the ribs that Pakistan did not need as it was already on the canvas. It resulted in Pakistan being further ridiculed and shamed in the media with the likes of Ian Botham calling for Pakistan to be banned from cricket, and the likes of James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Jonathan Trott making on-field comments they shouldn’t have. These allegations were most hurtful to the remaining clean Pakistani players after the three of Asif, Amir and Butt, who were linked with the spot fixing scandal, had been sent home. Yet the Pakistan camp just expresses relief? They should have jumped on this straight away.

Cricinfo reports that when Tafazzul Rizvi was asked about the news that Pakistan had been cleared and whether there would be any pending legal suit against the Sun newspaper, his reply was that they would await for the outcome of the inquiry into the initial News of the World spot fixing allegations. Yet the News of the World’s and the Sun’s allegations were completely separate. Why should they not instigate legal proceedings against the Sun now, whilst also taking a look at the role of the ICC, who broke the news of an investigation before informing the PCB, and the role of the English players in inciting bad feelings amongst the teams?

Had the PCB’s legal advisers been on the ball, then the second round of allegations would have been nipped in the bud at the time, with the ICC being pulled up to explain itself for breaking the news of the investigation to the media without informing the PCB themselves. A good legal team would have also briefed the whole Pakistan team, back-room staff and administrators on what to say and how to handle themselves in the media after the initial spot fixing scandal, and we may not have had the infamous outburst by the PCB Chairman, Ijaz Butt. Is anyone linked to Pakistan cricket actually any good at what they do?

Ijaz Butt multi-tasks: On the phone and reading the newspaper upside down at the same time. Isn't Pakistan cricket lucky?!

Ijaz Butt’s outburst was a real chance for the ECB and ICC to do something for Pakistan cricket in helping to remove Butt from his position as captain of the Pakistan ship. But a simple apology from Butt means that all is well and good once again. For the ECB, ICC and Ijaz Butt, it is at least, but under Butt’s command the Pakistan ship continues to drift into rough seas towards rocky shores.

I was hoping that Butt would be stubborn as usual and refuse to apologise, forcing the ECB to take him to court, and the ICC to suspend him. But deep down there was a feeling that he would retract his comments with a grovelling apology in a desperate attempt to hold onto his position. Self-preservation has always been Ijaz Butt’s main goal.

The ICC, it is believed, were ready to suspend Butt yet preferred to give him time to retract his comments and issue an apology. The head of each ICC member board automatically becomes an ICC Director, and it is from this role that the ICC could have suspended Butt. Yet instead of getting their hands dirty, they waited, as they love to do, rather than take the lead as the game’s governing body and take the required action against a guy that cricket does not need.

The ECB had taken their position very early in threatening legal action unless Butt apologised. I get the feeling that any legal battle may have overlapped their beloved up and coming Ashes series as court cases are generally long and drawn out, and England did not want to be dragged into such a distraction. Nevertheless, the allegations were grave and I’m surprised the ECB has settled for a simple apology.

Giles Clarke, the ECB Chairman, who heads the task force in trying to help out Pakistan cricket, has been a great support in trying times for Pakistan. By taking legal action against Ijaz Butt, here was a chance that he and the ECB could have taken that would have helped Pakistan cricket no end. Unfortunately, it does seem that in the end, everyone including the ICC and ECB, were in it for their own good. It does not seem as if the change will come from the outside so now and it must come from the inside, but who?

A PCB statement read: “The PCB and the Pakistan players completely reject the allegations made by the Sun newspaper and the ICC yesterday about the Pakistan team’s conduct in the 3rd Nat West ODI at The Brit Insurance Oval.

“The allegation’s were wholly irresponsible and completely without foundation.”

“The PCB expresses its gratitude for the outstanding conduct of the Pakistan team since after the first spot fixing story broke and will take all legal and disciplinary action which may result from these allegations.”

“It remains in the best interests of world cricket, the players and in particular of cricket supporters that the tour should continue, and it would set a dangerous precedent to call off a tour based on the misguided and inaccurate allegations of an English tabloid.”

Pakistan’s recently appointed new Chief Executive said: “We are looking for an apology. If it does not come we’ll look at other options. You can’t impugn someone’s integrity without having proper evidence.”

“To date I can say that we have received zero evidence of anything having influenced any Pakistan player since the three players were sent home. Clearly we will seek advice but there are quite strong laws of defamation.”

Earlier, an ex-Pakistani captain said: “I’d be making a few phone calls to legal sources to try to take this a little bit further. I can’t think of anything worse than your name mentioned in terms of fixing a game of cricket.”

Pakistan’s current captain Shahid Afridi said: “We would like to express our surprise, dismay and outrage at the comments made by the ICC and the Sun newspaper. We are deeply concerned and disappointed that our integrity as cricketers has been brought into question again”

“We refute these allegations completely and will be working closely with the PCB to explore all legal options open to us.”

“Under the circumstances, we have strong misgivings about continuing to play the last two games of the current series and urge the English team and management to distance themselves from the Newspaper’s allegations.”

“We do, however, recognise our responsibilities to the game of cricket — and in particular to the cricket-loving public in this country — and will therefore endeavour to fulfil these fixtures to the best of our ability.”

Despite the appeals from captain Shahid Afridi, unfortunately it seems that the ECB’s players have failed to distance themselves from the allegations as it was reported that Jonathan Trott, England’s South African star, made fixing remarks to Pakistan’s Pakistani star, Wahab Riaz, which resulted in an ugly altercation in which Trott ended up grabbing Wahab by the throat.

The Newspaper allegations and the ICC’s conduct has also managed to influence the likes of Ian Botham who, despite nothing being proven, has decided to call for Pakistan to be banned from international cricket. Ian Botham has as of yet failed to explain why his stance has changed as he had no such wish after the initial spot fixing allegations during the fourth Test at Lord’s.*

*All quotes are that of either the ECB, Michael Vaughan or England captain Andrew Strauss. The words in bold have been changed simply to demonstrate the holier-than-thou, self-righteousness of the English board, players, pundits and media in feeling hurt when Pakistan had the same accusations flung at them but did not react like the English have.

The difference is England were accused by an idiot in Ijaz Butt, someone who not many people pay attention to, but Pakistan were accused by cricket’s governing body and by an English newspaper; yes, a newspaper from the land of these sanctimonious saints. Shouldn’t Pakistan be the ones upset? Shouldn’t Pakistan be the ones taking legal action? Shouldn’t Pakistan have been the ones calling meetings on whether to continue the tour?

Having received evidence from the newspaper, the ICC have felt it necessary to launch an investigation into allegations that the Pakistan batting innings was scripted, with scoring patterns in two specific overs matching the evidence provided to the ICC before the game. Could something still be going on or could the said scoring patterns have been just a coincidence?

The fact that the ICC felt it necessary to launch an investigation will point to them having some substantial evidence to do so. But there are a number of reasons why these recent ongoings may just be a coincidence.

With the spotlight of the world on the Pakistan side, would anyone in the team have been brave or foolish enough to take instructions from bookies? I would be very surprised if this was the case. Secondly, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir who had been implicated previously are no longer in the side. Salman Butt was even referred to as the ringleader, so with the aforementioned not being there would something untoward still be going on? Also, with the police on Mazhar Majeed’s tail, it would be highly unlikely that he would still have contact with any of the players let alone be setting up fixes. It’s certain any other agent looking from the outside wouldn’t have dared try anything now too.

Which batsmen could have been involved?
If you look at the Pakistani line up, the only player there to have been linked with the original scandal was Kamran Akmal. Yet just looking at his innings on the day would tell you that Akmal wasn’t in long enough to carry out any instructions and neither would his freak dismissal (the ball deflected off the underside of his thigh pad, behind his leg and onto the stumps) have been something purposely planned out.

It is yet to be revealed the two overs in which the alleged fixed scoring pattern took place or who was at the crease at the time. We’ve already seen why it probably wasn’t Kamran Akmal so if it is true who could it have been?

Mohammad Hafeez, along with Akmal fell in the first three overs and both made 1 and 5 respectively so it’s unlikely it could have been them. The next batting partnership was between Asad Shafiq who has just got into the side and Mohammad Yousuf, a deeply religious guy, who himself has recently returned having been sidelined because of infighting. Neither of them would seem likely to do anything sinister. After Yousuf’s dismissal, we had the Shafiq and Fawad Alam partnership. Fawad is another battling to secure his place and his innings was no different to his usual. Then there was Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq, all them would have came in at points in the innings where the total at that oint in time would have been not something they could have controlled. Akmal would have been less likely to do something due to the suspicion surrounding his brother and Razzaq and Afridi played the types of innings you would usually associate with them. Also, being the captain of a side that is under the microscope with all that has gone on, Afridi would be even less likely to get involved with something. I think his response to the recent allegations “All this is rubbish”, said it all. He is frustrated as any Pakistan fan that new allegations have been thrown at the team in the attempt to kick them whilst they’re down.

Individual batsmen aside, I think the rate at which the wickets fell and the mode of many of the dismissals means that scripting a specific target over two overs would have been very difficult to achieve unless more than at least three players were involved. Considering all the evidence, I’d be surprised if there was any truth in the Sun’s allegations but you just never know.

ICC – Inept and crass as the PCB
The ICC was very quick to reveal to the media that they had begun investigations on what are just allegations without considering the potential consequences on Pakistan cricket. Indeed, they did not even inform the Pakistan Cricket Board that they were about to do so. It seems the spot fixing scandals have woken the ICC up from their slumber and highlighted the ineffectiveness of their Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU). Now the world is watching, the ditherers at the ICC feel they have to be seen and heard to be doing something, whatever that may be. They could have prevented the trial by media the Pakistan team has been and will be subjected to but instead they took the main role. In general, the ICC’s actions seem very much like those of an organisation that is always chasing the the crime rather than preventing it from happening.

Crude Flower and classy Strauss
Andy Flower has opened his mouth again and you would have to wonder if he thinks before he speaks. He felt it necessary to give his view on the Sun’s allegations saying “From a selfish perspective it’s really annoying because it devalues our Test series and it’s also devaluing this one-day series”. With two ODIs left to go, the ECB can’t have been too happy with Flowers comments as they battle to fill the seats in the grounds. Flowers comments are in direct contrast to that of England captain Andrew Strauss who, when questioned, made it clear that credibility in the allegations had still to be substantiated saying “we don’t know how credible the evidence is” and “[The ODIs have] been three very hard-fought cricket matches. There certainly seems to be passion on both sides, they’ve been high intensity affairs”. He went on: “The only thing you can say is give the benefit of the doubt that these allegations are well off the mark. That is certainly my attitude at the moment – because I would be dumbfounded if it was taking place after everything that has gone on in the Test series.” Flower could learn a thing or two from his captain. Maybe Andy is feeling the pressure and trying to deflect the attention after England not performing as well in the ODIs as they had hoped especially with the World Cup around the corner.

Ijaz Butt loses the plot
So as to be not outdone by the ineptitude of the ICC, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has responded with some remarkable claims of his own. He alleges that English players were involved in match fixing in the third ODI saying “There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the match [the third ODI]. No wonder there was such a collapse”. He also claimed that there was a “conspiracy to defraud Pakistan cricket” by various people and groups.I hope for the sake of Pakistan cricket that he has some real evidence because it’s not as if certain players haven’t brought enough embarrassment on this nation and it’s cricket. Should Butt’s claims fail to stand up, we may well see Pakistan losing it’s member status in international cricket.

Truth in the allegations against Pakistan or not, I think the newspaper certainly got their required response with the ICC jumping the gun, the ECB holding meetings in regards to the tour, England’s coach Andy Flower saying the series has become devalued, South Africa already feeling the need to speak out on whether the games against them will go ahead in the UAE, and pundits everywhere questioning the future of Pakistan Cricket. Allegations or not, the reaction from various corners has been quite pathetic, sad, irresponsible and inconsiderate.

The PCB needs to drop Salman Butt and the other three named players with immediate effect

It’s been suggested by some writers that the remainder of Pakistan’s tour should be stopped after Sunday’s match fixing allegations. Fixer Mazhar Majeed was taped telling  the undercover News of the World reporter that two of the upcoming ODIs against England had been marked out to be fixed. This has rightly raised doubts over the legitimacy of the contest between the two sides during the rest of the tour.

But as long as the players who the allegations were brought against are withdrawn from the squad, stopping the tour will serve no purpose. We must think of the Pakistan fans and the players in the squad that are completely innocent. We must think of the host nation and the losses they will suffer due to any abandonment.

The chances of the plans for the two matches that were to be fixed going ahead are pretty slim now. The issue has come to the world’s attention and any player would not even consider putting a foot wrong, pardon the pun, in the ODIs and Twenty20s to come. Should the PCB drop the suspected players – including Salman Butt who was refereed to as the ring leader – then the alleged plans to fix the two ODIs would have even less chance of going ahead. Though slight supporter suspicion will remain, the two points above would almost guarantee that the integrity of the contest in the remaining fixtures is maintained. Stopping the tour would be an overreaction and pretty pointless.

Yet for the good of the game, it is vitally important that the PCB take swift action in dropping the players. For the nation that has invited us to play, and for Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman who has been one of a very few who have gone out of their way to help Pakistan cricket in it’s hour of need, the PCB needs to act fast. There should be no problem in the PCB finding justification for withdrawing the players concerned as they are under police investigation. It does not matter whether withdrawing the players looks like they are admitting guilt, because the only way Pakistan can carry on playing with any sort of trust on this tour is by removing the named players from the touring party. Carrying on with them should not even be entertained as a possibility. Once the tour finishes, not only the players involved but also the complete set-up and administration needs to be looked at and cleared of corruption. But stopping the game right now is not the way to go. Whilst it is a good thing that these players are found out, it will only remain and end a good thing if those that do not deserve punishment are not punished along with the guilty.

At a time when the nation of Pakistan is suffering from horrendous flooding, the subject of match fixing seems relatively trivial. But just as life for the flood victims must go on, so must the cricket.

If anything, it shows how desperate, short sighted and foolish the ECB were for giving him a contract in the first place. Now he’s chucked it in their face, how silly do they look? Even Flintoff himself said he was “flattered” and wasn’t “expecting” a contract. Not only did the ECB offer him the contract but they are also paying for Dave Roberts the physio to help Flintoff  recover in Dubai. Surely the ECB should have only offered this if Flintoff was contractually bound otherwise why does he deserve it? A board paying for a physio for a freelance cricketer? Crazy.

As one of the reasons for rejecting the contract, Flintoff went onto to say “at this stage of my career I don’t think I need to be told when to play and when to rest,” if that was the case in the past, then you wasn’t professional enough my friend.

Flintoff’s retirement from Test cricket meant that the ECB could not award him a full central contract. The question you have to ask is if he was given a full contract with no Tests, rather than an incremental one, would he have decided to reject it?

Flintoff has his supporters of course. I don’t agree with Andrew Miller’s argument on cricinfo that “Flintoff shouldn’t be ostracised for his decision to go freelance. He is belatedly realising his own worth, and doesn’t owe England an outstanding debt of gratitude”

No outstanding debt of gratitude? Are you sure about that? What own worth? The guys been injured most of  his career,  something the ECB had to deal with.

Not only that,  he would have been  the main cause of an unsettled England side during this period. How many selection dilemmas has he caused because of his injury problems? How many players have come in to the national side not knowing how long they’d be given before being dropped just because Flintoff is fit again? This game has made him a millionaire and the support of his board has a lot do with this yet if you look at what he has contributed in return, it’s not great. “Own worth”? Inflated self worth more like it.

For the sake of consistency of team selection, England should now close this chapter and completely ignore him. It’s time to move on.

The scary thing is, though he may have been the first to go freelance, something tells me he won’t be the last. Cricket is fast becoming unrecognisable.

Andrew Flintoff:

“Since 2005 I’ve had two years when I’ve done nothing but rehab from one injury or another”
Andrew Flintoff, July 2009

Flintoff was in such a state that he could not throw properly. He had to pass the ball to the bloke next to him to do so. And when it came to trying to catch the ball I honestly thought I was going to hurt him, so uncoordinated was he. I was fuming and stopped the practice early.
Duncan Fletcher reveals his anger with Andrew Flintoff, the then-England captain, over his conduct at a fielding practice during the 2006-07 Ashes
Oct 30, 2007

I still do the same things I’ve always done. I go and have a pint with my mates down the pub, I go horse racing and do various other things I’ve always done, so my life hasn’t changed too dramatically.
Andrew Flintoff confirms that weight loss and Ashes glory can’t change the Freddie of old
May 12, 2006

England’s Joe Denly just recently twisted his knee before the second ODI against Australia whilst playing football in a practice session. Now he comes from a nation that supposedly invented the sport. Yes, something else the English invented but are now rubbish at. Not only that, Denly actually had professional trials as a youngster but gave up after getting “shoved about a bit”. Do not be surprised if he retires from cricket in the near future. He sustained his injury after a challenge from the Karachi born Owais Shah.

Younis Khan, the Pakistan captain, is a big fan of football too and will be Pakistan’s ambassador at next year’s football World Cup in South Africa. From the picture below, I’d advise Younis to stick to his ambassadorial role only. Here we see him in not the most graceful of positions and had the ankle sprain fairy been around, it would have quite happily seized its moment. As Umar Gul prances along with his two inch high Nikes, I’m surprised neither came out with some sort of strain, although this may have been due to the fact that Owais Shah was nowhere in the vicinity.

The ECB has now banned cricket as an exercise, a reaction which may seem a bit over the top if you simply analyse the two photos here which have a common theme. They involve players born in Pakistan I hear you say? No, the common theme is the type of footwear they are playing in. Playing football in cricket shoes is an ankle/knee sprain waiting to happen due to the thickness of the soles and the catching effect of the small spikes. Cricketers, if you want to be cool and play the only true global sport then at least do it using the proper footwear.

Just for the record, Pakistan’s football coach George Kottan, was so impressed by the footballing talent on show when he visited the Pakistan cricketers at a training camp, he said that four or five of them were ‘excellent’ footballers. So, we may have not invented the sport but we will soon be better at it than you, just like in cricket.

As for the ECB, they will now decide between either kiss-chase or hide and seek as warm up. I know the Australians play Aussie rules in their practice session but do not have a clue about what any of the other nations choose but I’m sure their fans will enlighten us.

A few months back, as the PCB began looking for venues to host their home games, it was becoming increasingly clear that England as a venue was not at the top of the PCB’s list, due to the costs of staying and playing here. Stani Army did suggest at the time that the ECB and PCB should go to all lengths and try to make it happen as it would be a guaranteed success for all parties due to the large Pakistani community in England.

The Twenty20 World Cup has since shown how Pakistan games in England would easily fill grounds and provide an electric atmosphere.

It is sad but understandable to some extent, why Pakistan will not be hosting games in Pakistan, yet Stani Army is glad that the games will be brought over here to England where the Test matches for one, will certainly be attended by more fans than they would have been back in Pakistan.

I’m not just saying that because I can now go and watch them, honestly.

Pakistan in England:

- Two Tests and two Twenty20 Internationals versus Australia, July 2010.

- Four Tests, five ODIs and two TwentyT20 Internationals in August and September, 2010.

Venues are yet to be confirmed but I strongly suggest Lords and the Oval (ahem).