Put aside the ineffectual attempts by the ICC to remove corruption from cricket, ignore Lord Condon’s warnings regarding Asian betting syndicates and their influence and even allow the disturbing accusations that players’ families were threatened to pass and you are left with only one thing really – that three Pakistan players cheated for personal gain (allegedly).
Innocent until proven guilty is right and proper and as such the remaining games of the tour should go ahead. Those three under suspicion should not play a part simply because it would cast doubt on any result but they shouldn’t be prematurely pilloried by the public or press. They may be innocent.
However, if they are found guilty they should receive far more than a lifetime international ban. They should not be allowed to play professional cricket of any kind ever again and they should be prosecuted and jailed. Harsh? Damn right. How else will the message that corruption and cheating will not be tolerated get through not only to players but those influencing them?
I wrote a piece about corruption in sport a while back in which I pointed out the rather obvious fact that the more money there is in sport the more corruption there will be. Cricket and Hanse Cronje in particular were touched upon.
The introduction of Twenty20 cricket and the Indian Premier League have only increased the opportunity for shady characters to influence results and incidents.
The fact that this latest scandal has hit Test cricket is odd but hardly surprising. The question now is what can and will be done about it?
The three players in question – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – have been charged and suspended, yes, but how they are going to be investigated is what concerns me. Clearly the ICC did little last time despite Condon’s warnings and their public announcements of non-tolerance are hollow.
I think they worry too much about the public image of cricket. To undergo a thorough and likely damning investigation right across the sport would tarnish it, of that there is no doubt. But surely it is better to do that now than to have every result in doubt forever?!
A clean sport would receive far more public support than one suffering from even a suspicion of corruption. Right now, the cricket watching public are disgusted. It can’t go on.
It has to start with the ICC taking a stand now, in conjunction with the police and other authorities in every cricketing nation. Arrests, prosecutions and jailing should take place and that HAS to include the players found guilty too. Often sportsmen get away with actual criminal charges simply because of who they are, but that can’t continue.
Yes, the dodgy bookies and dealers need to be taught that they can’t influence sports but the players also need to learn that, whatever the related circumstances, they simply cannot agree to assist them.
As a fan of many sports, not just cricket, it would put me right off if I thought there was any chance what I was watching was somehow tainted and I would rather see my sporting heroes banged up than have the whole sport ruined.
If, for example, Ryan Giggs was found guilty of match fixing I would gladly though sadly see him punished to the fullest extent of the law. Giggs is my ultimate sporting hero. That’s how strongly I feel about it and imagine most sports fans would feel too.
So come on…let’s put a stop to this in cricket and every other sport now before the whole thing is rendered pointless. Investigate, charge, prosecute and jail. Enough is enough, especially in cricket.