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Get rid of cricket cheats

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Sydney Wallabies

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Get rid of cricket cheats

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...f-cricket-cheats/story-e6frey50-1225911596316

Robert Craddock
From: The Daily Telegraph
August 30, 2010 12:00AM

WE have thought it for many years and now we can finally say it - the Pakistan cricket team contains a group of shameless cheats who must be thrown out of the game.

There can be no soft-peddling on this issue. The Pakistan side cannot be allowed to play another game of cricket until the corruption issue exposed by London's News of the World is fully investigated.

It's sad because the Pakistani cricketers operate on a different moral code to other nations and there are reasons why they have become so isolated and vulnerable as underpaid international gypsies who never get to play at home.

It is difficult as an Australian to understand the desperate, live-for-the-day mentality that many of the Pakistani players have in a country in which corruption and instability are a way of life.

The uncertainty of their cricketing lives is reflected by the fact that where Australia have changed coaches once in the past decade, Pakistan have done so 12 times.

But there can be no excuses.

These players have spat in the face of the game and must be harshly dealt with.

It is 10 years since Pakistan captain Salim Malik was banned for life for manipulating his team in the same sinister way that Salman Butt appears to have done in England.

The day Malik was banned, match-fixing became a bit like drug-dealing - everyone knew the consequences.

If found guilty, the players must be banned for life and the stigma of this incident will linger not simply with the men responsible but Pakistan cricket forever.

Every conspicuous no-ball, batting collapse or fielding error will now be shadowed by waves of suspicion.

For all the hundreds of questions that will be asked about the match-fixing at Lord's, there is really only one concrete fact that needs to be established for the Pakistan players to be banned.

When police raided the Swiss Cottage Hotel where the Pakistani players were staying in London on Saturday, they took away two bags belonging to players which allegedly contained a large volume of money.

If the serial numbers on the bills matched those on the ones handed out in the sting by the News Of The World reporter, the game is up.

Any logical person would accept that as proof of the scam.

Since match-fixing was first exposed in cricket 15 years ago, catching the culprits has been like trying to catch the mouse that hides behind your fridge. This time they appear to have been caught cold.

Over the past 15 years, scores of Pakistani cricketers, including the great Wasim Akram, have been accused of match-fixing. Yet most have managed to wriggle off the hook. Surely it cannot happen again.

Mind you, it would be wrong to assume the International Cricket Council's corruption team will get to the bottom of this because in terms of investigating prowess, they are more Mr Magoo than Perry Mason.

Everyone closely involved with cricket accepts that corruption has been rife. Yet in the 10 years in which the ICC corruption unit has been set up, its only scalps have been Kenyan captain Maurice Odumbe and West Indian Marlon Samuels - guppy-sized fish swimming in a school of white pointers.

In mafia terms, it is like setting out to nail Al Capone and only trapping his taxi driver for jaywalking.

Pakistan cricket is in a dreadful state and amid the anger the world must feel today, there is also sadness.

It's especially sad to think that teenage fast bowling sensation Mohammad Aamer, one of the accused, is so gifted he only needed routine help to become a rich and famous global star. But someone has guided him into the Devil's den.

Because of the strife-torn nature of the country, the team plays its games abroad and the players feel little loyalty to a homeland they rarely see.

Pakistan's captain gets about $300,000 a year from the board and the lesser lights as little as $50,000.

They can earn as much for a few preplanned no balls as they can for a year's work for their country. And they get precious little support from their board when injured.

Jason Gillespie played 71 Tests for Australia after being rehabilitated back from injury countless times. Had he been a Pakistani he would have been lucky to play 10 because he would have had to fend for himself.

But lack of support is one thing - dancing with the Devil quite another.
 

MajorlyRagerly

Trevor Allan (34)
Cheats isn't the right word. Corrupt arseholes is.

Out of the game (Pakistan entirely, not just the players) for minimum 2 years, would have no problem with 5 years.
 
S

Sydney Wallabies

Guest
Cheats isn't the right word. Corrupt arseholes is.

Out of the game (Pakistan entirely, not just the players) for minimum 2 years, would have no problem with 5 years.

I agree mate.

Was totally sick to the stomach when I heard about it.

These imbeciles never learn.

They really should be isolated from international cricket for 10 years at least.

In that time they can sort their shit out, disband the PCB and start again and then come back in 10 years.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
As a total cricket tragic, I'm gutted about the latest revelations. Without wanting to point the finger at one group or another, what the hell is up with Pakistani cricket? They seem to lurch from one scandal to another. As much as it pains me to say it, some action must be taken against them for the sake of the integrity of the game. I remember when we won that test in Sydney this year, nearly everyone in the office I was working in (fellow cricketers and/or tragics like myself) smelled a rat. None of us took any of the usual pleasure in winning that game and so it has been proven, I guess.
 

Scarfman

Knitter of the Scarf
Rigging the game for profit is inexcusable under any circumstances. But you guys should read that whole article if you're still wondering - WHY?
 

MajorlyRagerly

Trevor Allan (34)
Rigging the game for profit is inexcusable under any circumstances. But you guys should read that whole article if you're still wondering - WHY?

Yeah, I actually thought the article was a good read, and I softened my view point a bit (believe it or not!). But it's the only way to get it out of the game, banning countries. It's a shame for Pakistan fans, but that's why I said 2 years. It's enough for it to be taken seriously, but not enough for the game to die in one of it's strongholds.
 

Moses

Simon Poidevin (60)
Staff member
It's shit no doubt, but the Pakistani's are not alone in this behaviour. From memory, Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, Hanse Conje and Hershelle Gibbs have all had dubious encounters with bookies.
This isn't match fixing either, this is a much lesser crime of ball fixing - while still reprehensible and not in the spirit of the game (whatever that is). I don't agree that team bans are appropriate, the player however should spend a few years in the wilderness.
 

DPK

Peter Sullivan (51)
It's shit no doubt, but the Pakistani's are not alone in this behaviour. From memory, Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, Hanse Conje and Hershelle Gibbs have all had dubious encounters with bookies.
This isn't match fixing either, this is a much lesser crime of ball fixing - while still reprehensible and not in the spirit of the game (whatever that is). I don't agree that team bans are appropriate, the player however should spend a few years in the wilderness.

Didn't the English come out and admit that they were ball tampering in the 2005 Ashes?
 

Moses

Simon Poidevin (60)
Staff member
Didn't the English come out and admit that they were ball tampering in the 2005 Ashes?

No, they admitted to the common county cricket practice of chewing a certain type of mint which combines with saliva to help reverse swing. If anything the Aussies were naive for not participating, most of our squad had been playing county cricket for years and would have to be aware of it.
But no money changed hands, so it's a very different case.
 

RugbyFuture

Lord Logo
its just sad considering these players arent exactly the poorest in their country... for what other reason wud they do it?
 
S

Sydney Wallabies

Guest
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27635718-23212,00.html

Pakistan cricket supporters pelt tomatoes at donkeys, press fumes

By staff writers

August 31, 2010 Dozens of protesting Pakistan cricket fans have pelted tomatoes at donkeys labelled with the names of the accused players at the centre of the match-fixing scandal.

Chanting slogans against captain Salman Butt and other team members, dozens of protesters also pretended to beat the donkeys with shoes during the demonstration in the streets of Lahore.

"It's shameful and unacceptable," cricket fan Manzoor Ahmad told reporters.

"We want them back (from England), they should be punished," he said.

Pakistan's press said a match-fixing scandal involving top cricketers was an act of shameful betrayal for a flooded, terror-hit nation that worships the game.

"Our cricketers should have been ambassadors for us at this time, instead they have stabbed us in the back," English-language daily The News said in an editorial.

"The evidence appears conclusive and we are exposed to the world as cheats and frauds once again," it said, adding that the sport faced "a very uncertain future".

"Perhaps the only way forward now is to literally start from scratch. Sack the lot, top to bottom. Anything less and the stink generated by these allegations will stick to us forever."
 

stoff

Bill McLean (32)
I'll give the subcontinent this - they do a protest better than anyone else. All it need was a few burning effigies.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
So the question is: go after the individual players or issue a blanket ban of the team a la South Africa in the 70's. I think the marker has to be laid down. The longer this situation is allowed to continue, the more it will fester. Not that I have any faith in the ability of the ICC to do the right thing.
 
S

Sydney Wallabies

Guest
So the question is: go after the individual players or issue a blanket ban of the team a la South Africa in the 70's. I think the marker has to be laid down. The longer this situation is allowed to continue, the more it will fester. Not that I have any faith in the ability of the ICC to do the right thing.

I doubt the ICC will wield the big stick to Pakistan like they did to South Africa tbh.

The subcontinent virtually rules the game and I highly doubt anything will happen to the Pakis tbh.

Although I believe the whole country needs a 5 year ban to disband the PCB and sort their shit out.
 

Reddy!

Bob Davidson (42)
I bet the Wallabies are doing this as well - no wonder they keep losing and giving away half time leads!
 
S

Sydney Wallabies

Guest
I bet the Wallabies are doing this as well - no wonder they keep losing and giving away half time leads!

I know this a rugby forum but what does the Wallabies have to do with a topic on cricket?
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
I doubt the ICC will wield the big stick to Pakistan like they did to South Africa tbh.

The subcontinent virtually rules the game and I highly doubt anything will happen to the Pakis tbh.

Although I believe the whole country needs a 5 year ban to disband the PCB and sort their shit out.


Sadly, I think you are right on all counts. Nothing will happen to these guys.
 
S

Sydney Wallabies

Guest
The country has gone mad though.

There is now talk in the press over there the offending players could be hanged if found guilty.

http://www.karachinews.net/story/678929

Seven Pakistani players, allegedly involved in the Lord's Test match-fixing scandal, are facing charges of high treason under Article 6 of the constitution, an offence punishable by death in the country.

It comes after a petition filed by Chaudhry Ishtiaq Ahmad, a lawyer, in the Lahore High Court requested to initiate proceedings against the cricketers.

According to The Daily Times, the petitioner stated that the players, by indulging in match fixing, had tarnished the image of the country.

"The players have seriously damaged the already-bad reputation of Pakistani players in the world of cricket and deserve severe punishment," the newspaper quoted Ahmad, as saying.

He insisted that all the accused players should be arrested on their return to Pakistan, adding that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt should also be included in the investigation.

In the most sensational sporting scandal ever, it has been claimed that Pakistan fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif had delivered three no-balls to order.

According to The News of the World, London-based agent Mazhar Majeed is the alleged man behind the 150,000-pound betting scam.

The tabloid claims that they have footage of Majeed accepting money, and in return, he detailed what would happen and when on the field of play next day.

It also claims that Majeed had identified Pakistan captain Salman Butt as the ringleader.

He also named wicket keeper Kamran Akmal, and a total of seven corrupt cricketers. (ANI)
 
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