Stani Army

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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The ICC - Different rules for different teams

It has been reported that the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) may be investigating Australia’s World Cup game against Zimbabwe after the Australians got off to a uncharacteristically slow start to their innings. When supposedly pressed on the matter, cricinfo reports that the “ICC said it did not comment on any ACSU matter, including whether or not a match had been investigated”. Really?

Back in September you may remember how there was a second round of allegations that followed the News of the World sting, that the Pakistan team were match-fixing. This time it was the Sun Newspaper, which had apparently handed over evidence to ACSU. The ICC’s response then was to go public on the matter, telling the media that Pakistan were being investigated by ACSU again, and remarkably, this was even before informing the PCB itself. So why the double standards? Why the hush-hush when it comes to the Australians but the indiscreet nonchalance when it came to the Pakistanis? Let’s remember, the Pakistan team, which did not include the suspended trio of Asif, Amir and Butt, were found completely innocent of the allegations in the end, despite having to cope with a trial by media due to the ICC’s blunder.

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As the date for the tribunal’s hearing into the spot fixing scandal fast approaches, don’t be surprised if Mohammad Amir receives a life ban from cricket like Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif are likely to receive if found guilty. And quite frankly, Amir will have no one to blame but himself. Since immediately after the spot fixing scandal broke, there has been a lot of goodwill and calls for clemency towards Amir going around. Yet the youngster and his advisers seemed oblivious, and have hardly taken advantage or even shown remorse.

Mohammad Amir should have immediately been safeguarded from the influences of Butt and Asif after the fixing scandal

Immediate thoughts after the scandal were that Amir should try to distance himself from Butt and Asif, in that this would give him a better chance at receiving a more lenient sentence if found guilty. He did not necessarily have to become informant in some kind of plea bargain, but just had to stop being associated with the captain and senior bowler that allegedly coerced him into the dirty world of fixing.

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Akmal: "Being dropped is not an easy thing to take". Yes, imagine what the ball feels like Kamran!

With the World Cup fast approaching, and Pakistan choosing to send in a early preliminary list of layers to the ICC for vetting, Kamran Akmal has decided to come out into the open about his frustrations at being ignored. Having asked the ICC if he is under any investigation and been given the green light, Akmal is surprised as to why he has not been brought back into the fold after being dropped for his poor performances in England.

The belief is that Akmal is being shunned by the PCB as there are suspicions that he has been involved in match fixing. With the PCB recently being told by the ICC to clean up their act, they may just be playing it safe by keeping Akmal away from the international side, even if there is no hard evidence he has been involved in fixing.

So why is there this cloud over Akmal? Suspicions first arose during the tour of Australia when Akmal dropped four catches behind the stumps in the 2nd Test, three of them off of Michael Hussey, who was Australia’s only hope left in the innings. Hussey managed a century, and carried his bat with the tail with Pakistan eventually losing by 36 runs. This led to Akmal being questioned by the PCB, and he was later dropped for the Twenty20s against England in Dubai.

When Pakistan flew to England, Akmal was sent a notice by the ICC seeking information about events related to the 2010 World Twenty20 held in the Caribbean, as the suspicion in regards to Akmal’s performances continued. On the same tour, he was dropped for the 2nd Test against England after a string of missed opportunities behind the stumps and poor batting scores.

He was also recently named in a video by fixer Mazhar Majeed as one of six Pakistan players that Majeed had on his side, ready to engage in fixing games

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What is going on in Zulqarnain Haider's mind?

In our last post in regards to Zulqarnain Haider’s actions, we raised some concerns about the manner in which he was behaving and argued that he needed to reveal more about the incident which caused him to flee Dubai in order to remove suspicion that he had conjured up this whole scenario for personal gain. Three days on and his pubic comments have done nothing to allay fears that Haider is taking everyone for a ride. After being interviewed by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), Haider was unable to give them any information about the person that had approached him in Dubai.

We are not close enough to the man to know if lying is any part of his character, but there is one trait in particular displayed by him which one would see in a compulsive liar, and that is wanting to be seen as a good-doer, a hero. This was obvious in an interview which he gave to the BBC, in which he came across as wanting to be the whistle-blower who cleaned up the game of cricket, and was willing to give up his career and a lot of money to do so. Surprisingly, for a 20 minute interview, it was remarkably lacking in any detail of his meeting with the fixer or his experience of others involved in fixing in the game, despite being repeatedly asked probing questions by the reporter.

It’s also been the case that in two separate interviews, whenever he is asked about the meeting, his mentioning of the death threat is almost an afterthought, as if it didn’t really happen but must be added on to the end as if to bring weight to what he is saying, with Haider putting the threat to fix games and comply with the fixers before it. Surely when asked ‘What did he say?’ when going through an experience like that, ones first response would be to mention the threat to yours and your family’s lives first? Unless of course it didn’t happen and you have to make it up.

Haider says he received the threat after the 3rd ODI, but he only chose to flee after the 4th match, four days later. His reaction in running was one that someone would make instinctively, yet the threat was four days before. Therefore there must have been some sort of planning and calculating going on by him

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After disappearing from the team in Dubai, Zulquarnain Haider has a lot of questions he needs to answer, and he better be quick about it.

The cynics are already suggesting that Zulquarnain engineered this whole saga in order to provide a better life for him and his family by seeking asylum in the UK. Geo News reported that he had already applied and certainly from his words: “Help my family somehow. If it can be done, send my family here (UK)”, it seems that his actions may have another motive behind them.

Zulquarnain Haider does the sajda - Honest man or opportunist?

The manner in which he has behaved since the alleged threat he received for refusing to fix matches has also been strange. He did not inform the Pakistan coaching or support staff and lied to them in order to obtain his passport before he disappeared. Neither did he confide in any of his team members or inform the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU). He has also yet to request the help of the Pakistan High Commission in London, something the cynics would say would have been one of his first steps if he feared for his and his family’s safety.

The message coming from his family in Pakistan also tends to suggest we’re not the only ones confused by Haider’s actions. His brother was quoted in The Times of India as saying: “He should return to Pakistan

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'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.

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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

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