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.

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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.

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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

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.

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.

It’s fine to criticise but this criticism should be fair. To say that he is match fixing or has some other sinister motive for playing such an innings is unfair, and if weighed up against every good thing that Misbah is, stands out like a sore thumb because it cannot be a correct allegation.

Many may criticise him for using this method of batting but you could say it has developed out of necessity rather than choice, with him having to all too often come in to rescue a batting line up that has collapsed before him. Starting off and getting in is the only sensible way to go about rebuilding things in such circumstances, and Misbah is a sensible man.

“He has a statesman-like demeanour which so many Pakistan captains have lacked and he handles adversity analytically not emotionally. He knows how to get the best out of players and he is a winner, note his outstanding domestic record as a leader.” Geoff Lawson on Misbah Ul-Haq, October 2010

Then there’s the criticism and pure hatred Misbah receives from the Afridi fanatics. It is not Misbah’s fault Afridi has been sacked as captain. That is no reason to hate anyone, particularly your own player and captain.

Serene characters like Misbah are few and far between in Pakistan cricket. We’ve seen the hot-headedness from Younis Khan, Ijaz Butt and Shahid Afridi in recent times and the chaos created by the match-fixers Salman Butt, Mohammeds Asif and Amir. Misbah is a man with such wide ranging qualities (also holds a MBA in business management) that he could easily take up the coaching role or a board position once he retires form playing – something I hope he does. This man should be backed to the hilt.

Whilst he may not be the greatest cricketer in the world, he is not the worst, and as a man and a leader is exactly what Pakistan cricket has needed for a while, especially now.

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?

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.

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.