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? What do the players themselves think about what they have done and what have they been telling their families?

For me, this is a social issue, linked to the blasé attitude towards corruption and the prevalent moral turpitude that exists amongst many in Pakistan society. In a country where a man wanted by Interpol is elected president, a deliberate no-ball in a cricket match is just a no-ball – it is insignificant. Despite Amir and Asif’s guilty pleas and Butt’s punishment, I wouldn’t be surprised if the three still believed that they’ve hardly done anything wrong.

It’s a mentality that is very easy to criticise, but very difficult to understand for those that have grown up here and in other more developed countries. Take for instance the fact that faith is important to many of the Pakistani players, yet even in that infamous Test match where he was cheating, we saw Amir do the sajda (prostration) upon getting a wicket. So as a God-fearing person, did he really think he was doing something so wrong by bowling a no-ball? It appears he didn’t.

So can we, looking on from our ivory towers over here in our developed West really pass judgement? Is it fair to apply our rules and judge them by our laws and form opinion from what we would consider acceptable living in the society we live? Certainly if we applied the two allegations that were applied to the players against many in that country, then we’d have a problem on our hands. Yet that is a failure of the leaders who have for decades failed to serve the interest of the man on the street. So just like the people have been failed by the powers that be in Pakistan, was Amir not also failed by the PCB and the ICC?

Unlicensed agents buzzing around impressionable young stars is something the Pakistan board should have been very wary of since the Justice Qayyum report over a decade ago. Yet it was allowed to happen freely. The ICC was spending millions on its ACSU unit yet it took an English tabloid and a relatively simple sting to uncover the biggest scandal in cricket.

If Amir comes out of Feltom and returns from his ban still thinking that what he did was ‘just a no-ball’, then the British justice system, along with the PCB and ICC, would have also failed Mohammad Amir.

Stani Army on Twitter and on Facebook

Tabrez Ali Janjua also writes at www.khelopakistan.com

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, as he was then, was subjected to extreme pressure from those upon whom he should have been able to rely. He recognises the damage he has caused Pakistan cricket and he wishes to do his best to put that right”

By making Amir out to be the “vulnerable 18-year-old boy”, Amir’s legal team is hoping that he will receive a lighter sentence. Yet the prosecution presented a number of key bits of evidence that could be interpreted as Amir being everything but the innocent and vulnerable boy his team is trying to present him as.

Key to the prosecution’s evidence is a number of text messages Amir had sent to some unknown numbers and also to Azher Majeed, brother of the agent at the center of the scandal, Mazhar Majeed. One text message read: “Amir here, don’t call my phone, ICC-police have taken my phone, are you able to delete those calls you made to me? If you can do it okay, don’t reply”.

Whilst Pakistan fans were hoping for some clemency to be shown to Amir, evidence of his involvement in what went on has cast doubt over whether any leniency will be shown by the judge towards him. Of course, the one thing in his favour is that he did plead guilty, thus it is probably a given that he will receive a lighter sentence than Butt and Asif who have throughout the case maintained their innocence despite the overwhelming evidence against them. The best Amir can probably hope for is a heavy fine, but we will find out later this week how much lighter his sentence is than the one Butt and Asif are to receive.

Stani Army on Twitter and on Facebook

Tabrez Ali Janjua also writes at www.khelopakistan.com

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”.

Finally, there is the fact that neither Butt nor Asif stuck to the same story. They were seen to turn on one another through their lawyers a number of times during the case, undermining one another’s story. In fact, these denials and counter claims regarding one another’s stories points to an inherent distrust, suspicion and treachery among the two – common attributes of wrongdoers. As the old saying goes, ‘there’s no honour among thieves’.

So, the likelihood is that they will both be found guilty on at least one or both the charges. The one thing Asif has going for him in regards to the offence of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments is that none of the money handed over to Majeed by the News of the World reporter was found with Asif. Even then, Asif is looking at a maximum prison sentence of two years if found guilty of the offence of cheating.

Due to the seriousness of the charges and the huge sums of money involved, expect Mr Justice Cooke to hand down a custodial sentence to both Butt and Asif, should they be found guilty. It will send a tremor across the cricketing world, but maybe some time in prison is exactly what is required, with all three of the players demonstrating a nonchalant and dismissive attitude to authority and the seriousness of the alleged crimes since the scandal broke. It’d give them plenty of time to think about their actions and the people they have allegedly cheated.

With a prison sentence likely, we must now await the jury’s verdict and then sentencing from the judge to be sure. Due to the complexities of the case and the bundles of evidence to consider, it should be said that the jury’s deliberation could well run into next week. If that is the case, the judge, Mr Justice Cooke, may well accept a majority verdict rather than the unanimous one he had initially asked for.

Tabrez Ali Janjua also writes at www.khelopakistan.com

It remains to be seen if Haider will be considered for selection again by the PCB

Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has reversed his decision to retire from international cricket and is now hoping to continue his test match career.

Back in November last year, Haider fled Pakistan’s team hotel to come to England, saying that he had received death threats for not taking part in match fixing.

However, after some time to think about the decision, he returned to his home country last month and has now declared himself available for Pakistan again.

Speaking about the u-turn, Haider said: “I have decided to take back my retirement decision in the national interest. I want to revive my career.”

This is a refreshing piece of news for Pakistan. Things looked like getting messy with Haider last year when he left the country. He threatened to ‘name and shame’ players that he believed were involved in match fixing.

However, although he clearly still has concerns in this regard, the situation in Pakistan has changed with regards to his safety. Pakistan’s interior minister Rehman Malik has assured Haider that the player and his family will not be under threat.

Going into more detail about the situation, Haider said: “The situation is also different now from when I went to London. I want to play cricket again and now it is up to the cricket board to decide when to clear me.”

With regards to him being clear to play for his country again, those placing sports bets note how the PCB wants some questions answered about his actions, saying that they want ‘certain clarification’ from the player.

Hopefully though, this will all be sorted before long and Haider can look to add to his one test match, four ODI’s and three Twenty20 internationals.

The 25-year-old made 88 in his only test appearance too, so sports betting pundits note how he clearly has some talent. Perhaps his cricket can do the talking over the next few years.

Guest post, by Thomas Rooney

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.

In defence of the Australians, teams are allowed to play slow as long as the intention is pure and it is a tactic employed to win the game. But whether there was something sinister in it or not is a separate issue, it is the ICC’s double standards that is the point of discussion here.

Will Pakistan raise issue with the ICC? I doubt it. They clearly have a inferiority complex and thus will continue to be treated as inferior by the governing body and their officials.

On a side note; what has happened to Ijaz Butt? England, who Pakistan have just had a highly charged series with, and India, Pakistan’s arch rivals, have just played out a tie in a World Cup match. Added to this, Shane Warne, previously linked to match fixing, actually predicted a tie. Am I the only one who is amazed that Ijaz Butt has managed to keep his mouth shut and has not questioned the result?!

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.

Yet not only has Amir shown no contrition, but he also appealed his provisional suspension along with Salman Butt, and foolishly also joined him in criticising the decision of Michael Beloff, the ICC code of conduct commissioner. Both were then critical the make-up of the tribunal that will this month decide their fate. Amir has also been filmed recently playing cricket with Butt, as revealed in an exclusive report by Sky Sports News’ Bryan Swanson. Swanson travelled to Pakistan and managed to speak with a confident looking Salman Butt at his residence in regards to the fixing allegations. Yet he was unable to get anything from Amir, who shied away from the cameras. That alone would tell you a lot about the relationship that existed between captain Butt and young Amir during their alleged fixes.

Amir has had time to think, time to question himself and his actions. He has had time to take good advice yet he has continued to stick to the story that they are completely innocent despite the evidence, and has continued to associate himself with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif. As the teenager influenced by his captain, there was a lot of goodwill in the cricketing world for Amir. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should also have been quick in getting to him and getting his head straight yet they left him to these vultures. Did they not recognise they could save the biggest talent emerging form Pakistan since Wasim Akram from disappearing from the cricketing world at such a young age? But with a slap on the wrists from the ICC due to their years of ineptitude, the PCB were busy trying to put their own house in order and look good to the ICC in fear of any action against the board and it’s Chairman.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England is at the same time considering bringing a criminal case against the three. Whether or not they are charged by the police, it should not necessarily affect the ICC’s own investigation and tribunal. The ICC just need to prove that the players acted on fixer Mazhar Majeed’s instructions and did not play honestly and to their best ability, and that would be enough for a guilty verdict. The video footage from the News of the World, if legitimate, would be proof enough it seems.

It is getting to the point where a life ban for all three of them, for the share cheek of their claims in the face of all this evidence, is deserving. Butt, with his denials, seems to be operating by the old adage that if you say something enough times then people will begin to believe it. Even now, I don’t think Amir at least quite realises the gravity of what he’s done. Maybe he needs a harsh punishment for him to realise. I hope not. If he does disappear from cricket, you would have to wonder what other skills he has as means to earn a living. It’s ok for many of us living in developed countries with decent educations; we can do bad, get punished but then find other ways to earn a living. But for Amir, that may just be it. If this is the result of banning him for life, would the punishment outweigh the crime even though the crime was such a serious one? If Amir does get banned for life, then he only really has himself to blame.

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.

Akmal in thought after dropping an easy chance off Strauss - one of many mistakes

Another thing I noticed was Akmal’s demeanour after the match fixing scandal involving Amir, Asif and Butt came out into the open in England in August. Up until then, he seemed very edgy and pressured with his batting and keeping. After the scandal broke, he seemed to begin to play with more freedom. Whilst the statistics for his wicket-keeping before and after the scandal are not available, and he has played only two Twenty20s since, we can compare his One Day innings’ before and after the spot fixing scandal broke in August 2010 adequately enough.

Akmal averaged a very good 40.2 in the five ODIs he played after the fixing scandal. If we take the same number of innings (five) before the scandal, his average drops to 21.2. What made Kamran suddenly want to score after the scandal had broke? Was he know playing freely rather than to the instructions of a fixer? Since then, he has also made his first ever double century in first class cricket scoring 268 for National Bank of Pakistan last month, and has generally batted well in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy scoring 530 runs at an average of 75.71 so far this season. What could explain Kamran’s sudden run of form?

Whilst any one of the above points would probably not mean much on their own, brought together, they certainly raise question marks over whether Akmal gave it his best every single time. It does not tell us he was fixing games, but if he wasn’t trying his best, you would have to ask why?

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. Why did he wait so long? And to run away and not tell anyone? Was this the Haider we saw in England when he made a courageous 88 on debut in the 2nd Test and stood up to the English bowlers getting under their skin? Is this a man whose instinct is to run?

Whilst his actions were suspicious from the outset, deep down I really had hoped that here was a man who had made an honest decision to stand up against corruption in the game even if it was going to cost him his career. And that was the strongest argument in Haider’s favour, that he was willing to give up his international career.

Yet recent reports have emerged that Haider was on the verge of being dropped for the 4th and 5th ODI in Dubai against South Africa.  Was Haider’s international career on the verge of ending anyway? Did he realise this? Did he jump before he was pushed? He has had previous experience of being shunned so may have seen this as the end. He was upset at being sent home early after the tour of England after injuring his finger, and may have taken this latest exclusion as signalling the end to his career as the selectors, captains and coaches, clearly did not prefer him. If this was the case, all that was left for Haider was a return to Pakistan to continue his career, forgotten, languishing in a poor domestic league.

Or, was there an alternative? Had someone got into Haider’s head on the recent tour to England? Did they tell him about how the likes of Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqulain Mushtaq, Mohammad Akram, Azhar Mahmood and Yasir Arafat had all made a successful career and stable life for themselves and their families, plying their trade in the English counties? Was this temptation too much for Haider to resist? Was it time to put a plan in to motion?

I’m not sure about the ins and outs of asylum law, or whether Haider could have played over here in the U.K anyway for any significant period of time, but certainly, eventually gaining citizenship and playing in a top class county set-up would have been appealing to him.

Haider has been complimentary to the British authorities from the outset of this saga. He should remember though that the British authorities are no soft touch either. If there are any holes in his story, these same authorities he has complimented will pick them out and his intentions will soon be exposed before everyone. So is Zulqarnain Haider a lying opportunist or is he a brave man, willing to sacrifice all for the sake of not just the game in Pakistan, but the game everywhere? You decide.

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 or if he has issues coming back home because of the threats he should at least come back to Dubai and join the team again. His wife and children are also very concerned about him and believe he should be back at home they don’t want to go to London”.

But could the threats to Haider have been genuine, and is this an honest man trying to do the best for his country and family? Retiring from cricket, the means by which he earned a living, cannot have been an easy thing to do. Earlier this year, he dedicated his second innings 88 in the Test against England to his late father and to the victims of the Pakistan floods. So are these the actions  of the kind of man that would cheat the world into trying to obtain asylum in a foreign land? He also seems to be a God-fearing man, evident from his prostration (sajda) when he brought up his 50 in the aforementioned innings. Yet we’ve also seen Mohammad Amir do the same, and we all know the kind of things he’s allegedly been meddling in.

Whatever has been going on, Zulquarnain needs to inform all the relevant authorities as soon as possible so that the truth can come out into the open. This includes the police, the PCB and the ICC’s ACSU. If it is true, if he was approached and threatened, then it says something about our remaining players and back-room staff that Zulquarnain felt the need to flee without being able to trust anyone enough to tell them. He is basically suggesting, after all that went on in England, that corruption still exists in the Pakistan team set-up.

As chairman of Majeed’s Croydon Athletic Football Club, Le Cluse had previously admitted that the club was being investigated for money laundering after the spot fixing scandal involving Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt.

It is believed that Le Cluse had a large amount of his personal wealth invested in the club and found it difficult to cope with the realisation that it had all been lost. The club’s assets are currently frozen by HM Revenue and Customs, and just two weeks ago, was rescued from liquidation after Majeed himself injected £10,000 for costs for the rest of the season.

This latest development sheds more light on the murky world that Pakistan’s cricketers have become involved in, in particular the young Mohammad Amir. As more information comes out, those that have called for Amir to receive a life ban, may consider having a re-think in asking for more clemency to be shown to a youngster caught up in the criminal world.