So what's the big deal?

Entertainment Cricket and Other Sports
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I know everyone is either is seething in anger at our cricketers’ shenanigans, but is that really such a big surprise? They come from a country where EVERYONE, from top to bottom, is corrupt whether it’s a government official, politician, a bureaucrat, a businessman, or a private individual. So what if the cricketers took money to fix matches? They saw an opportunity to make money and they utilized it. It isn’t something that the rest of us aren’t doing.

Where’s the anger about us bribing officials to get unfair advantage? Where’s the guilt when we cheat on taxes? Where’s the outrage when we knowingly vote for the same corrupt politicians time and time again? Where’s the outcry when we cheat WAPDA on our electricity bills? When each and every one of us is a cheat, why do the cricketers stand out? Did we expect anything different?

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Re: So what's the big deal?

^ bitter but true. I have said something similar else-where

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Whats the big deal? Well if you stop caring about whats right and whats wrong then that is a big deal. When we do it wrong and say its okay or don't acknowledge it wrong then thats REALLY bad. When someone gets caught we MUST demand that justice be served, if we stop doing that then there is no point in having police, judiciary, parliament, boundaries, just abolish everything and call it a jungle.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

right... every single individual... you must have checked the whole population... not a single honest person in all of Pakistan eh? no Imran, no Edhi, no Aitzaz, no Essa Khan, no Safwat Ghayyur, no Hammad Raza, etc?

anyway, I'm not going to get in the way of a few low esteem crybabies' self-flagellation session. please continue.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

but Samb one always talks about the majority and the bitter truth is Pakistan is one one of THE most corrupt societies in the world. We have been ranked among the top 10-20 corrupt nations in the world for as long as I can remember

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Asif.. that still shouldnt mean that people sit back and let corruption take over. We (I say we... because we Indians are plagued with corruption too.. maybe slightly less than Pak.. but its pretty bad nevertheless) must demand cheats be punished severely. Corruption on a big scale like this.. deserves a big punishment.. and is not the same thing as a small business owner in Peshawar forced into bribing city officials to get a business permit to earn livelihood.

A national team representing a country needs to be clean.

Although I do agree that it is not a BIG SURPRISE.. because corruption is rampant in Pak society.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

and that is because when we break rules, the laws aren't enforced. it isn't because we are born as cheaters. goras are not better than us inherently. their societies work because they have to follow the laws and if they don't, then there are serious ramifications. these are learned behaviors - not genetic makeup.

either way, this bashing of the whole country is a real pet peeve of mine... because this sort of stuff generally comes from people who themselves cheat. I don't cheat and I don't want to be lumped with those who cheat. plus generally these guys are the ones who support players like Afraidi when they cheat over and over again, beg for undisciplined players like Yousuf to come back, etc etc. and then they whine when these players are caught with their pants down. even now Pak fans are wondering if there is a way Aamer can be spared what he deserves.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Sharabee read my post above. Where have I said that we should just sit back and do nothing about this menace of corruption. I am all for banning the players for life if they are proven guilty. Enough is Enough

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Asif.. I didn't mean to claim that you were asking us to sit back.. you havent.. bad phrasing perhaps.. I was just saying we shouldnt let the "its pakistan.. so no surprise" turn into complacency where these things go unpunished (like they have before)..

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Re: So what's the big deal?

I respect that. I know not all Pakistanis are like that.

But an example needs to be made out of the current players if their guilt is proven beyond doubt

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Cheers brother.

I did not appreciate Afridi as a cricketer because he was a retarded pinch hitter but enjoyed him bat anyway because he will provide entertainment. But after the pitch scuffing I got bitter and started to really dislike him. The ball eating (TWICE !!! we all forget that he had the audacity to do it twice in the same game) was just too much and since then I hate the man. It was disgusting to see him become captain after such a shameful act. What would it say about Pakistan cricket? PCB didn't care.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Pakistan needs to take very strong steps if..or rather .. when the allegations are proven.

these guys need to be banned for life to be associated with cricket
they should be banned from making a single penny from cricket, no coaching, no books, nothing

Then, PCB needs to be cleaned out, thoroughly, this sort of crap does not linger on unless there is some continuation of players, staff, officials that are crooked and take the corruption from one regime and team to another

on a volunteer basis, Pakistan should sit out of any international competitions, until a complete housecleaning is done.

an entire new group of players needs to be brought forward, people who are convicted banned as I said, but those who stood by knowing there was such corruption and did not say anything, they should not be allowed to play either.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

^ It's important that the bans for life are actually implemented. Also no involvement in FC cricket in any capacity. What about assets being seized?

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Re: So what's the big deal?

oh i forgot to add, investigation into the corrupt players finances, all ill gotten funds recovered, they should get punitive damages and those funds invested into grassroots cricket programs.

it also calls into question the selection policies, are..and were certain players selected because they were involved in this, what is selectors involvement.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

yep i was adding that on, punitive damages.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

The big deal is that cricket is perhaps the only profession in Pakistan that brings you the 'idol' status. As Rameez Raja said that it is a common theme in Pakistan despite the religious/political divides of the country. The players are like role models for a lot of our youngsters.

This might not have happened if the 'senior' players of the current lot had not gotten away with it during 80s and 90s. Should we let them get away with it again?

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Its one thing to break rules of the game, its totally another to be corrupt.

Mike Atherton rubbed mud on the ball, yet he was made English captain.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Icon... I realize that ball tampering is not as big a cricket crime as match fixing but IMO it is still disgusting and should be stopped... specially when it goes to the level of eating the ball repeatedly infront of thousands of spectators. Since it is a smaller crime it may not warrant BAN FOR LIFE the first time it is committed. But IMO repeated instances of ball tampering should result in very severe bans. How many instances and how much severity is debatable ofcourse and to be decided by the ICC.

Just cuz Atherton did it.. does not make it right. I honestly believe that making Afridi the captain months after he publicly shamed Pak cricket was a backward step.

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Re: So what's the big deal?

Atherton was caught with mud on the ball.. which is one offence and he was already captain. he wasn't made captain AFTER years and years of indiscipline like Afraidi.

this is something I wrote some time ago about afraidi's achievements over the years. tell me if you think he still deserved to be made captain? also consider how many fans backed such a undisciplined player who now whine about how corrupt we are, etc. well should have thought about that before backing this black sheep:

it is one thing to cheat once and be punished for it. it is another to be a serial cheater and an overall dishonest person.

this is what Afridi's resume reads like:

  • cheated before had even played his first game by lying about his age. is at least 5 years older than his official age according to his TV interviews.

  • harassed a girl soon after becoming a "star" on a flight. apparently Saleem Malik saved his behind otherwise the brother of the girl was about to deliver some almighty phaintee to the ghayuur Pathan. I remember reading the story back in the day and thinking - well that didn't take very long. thought it was take at least 3 years before he started showing his true colors.

  • Younis asked him to open the innings against West Indies in a test match. he refused and ended up in a fight with the stand-in captain.

  • tried to damage the pitch in the test series against England. when caught despite his image and oft-repeated proclamations of being a "team player" tried to blame teammates for making him do it.

does not get any more shameful than that. first you cheat, then you blame your teammates for making you do it and try to become a martyr.

  • left Woolmer very frustrated with his performance and professionalism before the 2007 world cup. Woolmer expressed these sentiments. I believe the account of the chat where Woolmer said so about Afridi was posted right here on GS. on performance and merit, he had no business playing in the 2007 world cup but being in Inzi's tableeghi clique helps.

you gotta give credit to the man though. until he started thinking of himself as a captaincy candidate, he changed changed colors like a chameleon as required to fit in with the captain of the time. when it was the olden days, he was a party man. when Inzi brought Islam to the team, no one grew a beard quicker than the oh so simple and straightforward Afridi.

  • couldn't shut his mouth about how badly he wanted the captaincy after the 2007 world cup. the fact that Malik was eventually appointed as captain seemed to make no difference to him. continued his verbal diarrhea regarding his desire to become captain even though a captain had been appointed and there was no vacancy. would have made for a lovely dressing room I'm sure.

  • tampered with the ball in Australia. no need to explain that one.

  • before the RBS cup threw a tantrum about how he deserved to captain Karachi and the KCCA will have to treat seniors like him with respect. threatened to not play for Karachi in the future.

  • eventually, played under Sami. in the semifinal, the required runrate was trivial. all that was needed was a run a ball innings. instead, he came in and threw the bat at EVERY single ball that he faced. eventually got out and cost his team the game.

after the match, in his interview said that the team had no plan and it was the coach's job to make a plan which he didn't. he was followed by Sami who praised the same coach for his planning and getting the team that far in the tournament.

next day the coach also that he had sent a message to Afridi to not play a shot at every ball because there was no need - instructions which were ignored. pretty obvious that he threw the game away because he was not captain and could not care less.

this raises the question how many times has he played irresponsibly and underperformed in international cricket because he was not happy about one thing or the other!

of course, all the incidents are apart from his irresponsible, unprofessional way of playing that has continued for longer than a decade. just because you claim that your "natural game" is to play unprofessionally doesn't mean it's okay to play like a brainless slogger every single game. did not even mention that Lawson was frustrated with his unprofessional style of play as well.

people like M. Wasim, Yasir Hameed must wonder what crime they committed they couldn't get a joy ride for even one year... Afridi's whole ten year plus career has been one long joyride. an undeserved place in the team for about 85% of the 10 years. wonder what those poor guys must think who work on their game and technique in domestic cricket. much easier to slog at the ball, play one decent inning every 20 games and still keep your spot for 10+ years than work hard on your game and try to play for your team. what kind of an example is left for the young ones to follow who're trying to learn the game and hope to play for Pakistan one day?

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Re: So what's the big deal?

I second that view