Re: So what's the big deal?
^Now you may try to look as being idealist but thats not the issue at hand. Many people have done wrongs in cricket and severe wrongs like persistent sledging by aussies, Ponting claiming catches that were clearly on ground, Harbhajan making racist remarks etc.
But accepting bribes is corruption and that shudnt be tolerated.
Re: So what's the big deal?
*It's not surprising, but that doesn't mean we don't hand out life bans to these idiots if they are guilty. Many players are bigger than the teams they play for (Lara, Akram, etc), but no one, no one, is bigger than the sport itself.
*
Re: So what's the big deal?
Zardari is very upset. He is like where is my share?
Re: So what's the big deal?
Smooth_guy thanks for the Hadith, reading that seems like its perfectly suited to current Pakistan State, everything is going bad in that part of the world unfortunately and there is no one to blame and its only ourselves. We need to look as an individual within ourself, are we honest whatever we do? are we honest with our job, are we hones with the people we live with, are we honest in financial matters, if we are not then we have no right to criticize anyone.
We should stop making these shortcuts, trust me Halal money has a Baraka and we need to understand that, it is part of our Imaan. Allah guide us all in the right path.
Re: So what's the big deal?
Yes Zafar, story of our society.
For English-daans. Prophet SAW said:
"When the booty is taken in turn, property given in trust is treated as spoil, zakat is looked on as a fine, learning is acquired for other than a religious purpose, a man obeys his wife and disobeys his mother, he brings his friend near and drives his father far off, voices are raised in the mosques, the most wicked member of a tribe becomes its ruler, the most worthless member of a people becomes its leader, a man is honored through fear of the evil he may do, singing-girls and stringed instruments make their appearance, wines are drunk, and the last members of this people curse the first ones, look at that time for a violent wind, an earthquake, being swallowed up by the earth, metamorphosis, pelting rain, and signs following one another like bits of a necklace falling one after the other when its string is cut."
Re: So what’s the big deal?
How Low
Yesterday I was preparing to write about the shame of our feeble capitulation in both innings of the fourth test.
Tonight, I would give anything if that were the only form of embarrassment we had to suffer at the hands of our team – but it isn’t. An abject defeat would be too easy a let-off. Our team couldn’t resist dragging a country’s reputation through the mud as the icing on the cake.
As the whole world knows by now, a British tabloid broke a story implicating several Pakistan cricket players in a “spot-fixing”](http://www.cricinfo.com/match-fixing-anniversary/content/current/story/468255.html) scam. The video evidence is damning, showing Mazhar Majeed, the mastermind behind the operation, assuring an undercover reporter that no-balls would be bowled at specific points in the match in exchange for cash. Sure enough, the said deliveries were duly bowled.
Anyone that saw the match live must remember being astounded at the extent of Amir’s overstepping. It seemed too exaggerated to be genuine. It wasn’t. I don’t think the evidence against Hansie Cronje was ever as conclusive as the
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLILvZPfhdE
taken showing Wahab Riaz and Umar Amin, ostensibly acting as gophers for the likes of Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal, meeting with Majeed and accepting a coat carrying possibly upwards of £10,000. Officials reportedly later found around £25,000 in a Pakistani player’s room.
I’ve watched this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8JgM34tvQY
disbelievingly over and over again, probably out of some masochistic impulse. It’s difficult not to feel a little sick as Majeed silently, calmly flips through a wad of bills, computing the value of the honour of our players as if it’s an item on the shelf of a supermarket. In a seedy hotel room, our players were bought and sold.
In the interests of fairness, let’s establish what Asif and Amir did not do. As far as I’m aware, they did not under-perform. Money was accepted to perform certain, seemingly trivial, actions on the field of play. No catches were dropped. No wickets were gifted while we batted. In fact, the no-balls in question were bowled while we were in the ascendancy and our grip over the match was absolute. So far, there is no evidence to suggest that we deliberately let England off the hook after having them at 47-5.
It’s debatable whether it is fair to punish the accused with life bans for something relatively minor. Would Amir have hesitated to take the cash if it required him to ensure that Pakistan lost the game? Maybe not. Maybe Asif and him just figured: “It’s only a measly no-ball. What does it matter in the broader scheme of things?”
It does matter guys.
This is not a question of degrees. Going by that logic, there shouldn’t be a death penalty for killing a homeless, destitute man because he “doesn’t matter” as much as you or I. Where does one draw the line at what an acceptable form of bribery is and what’s not? That’s a rhetorical question because there is no line. Once you start attaching notional levels of reprobation to an offence, you immediately diminish the gravity of that offence as a whole. I don’t want young kids thinking that bowling an inconsequential no-ball for some cash is relatively harmless. I want them thinking that accepting money for doing something you otherwise wouldn’t do on the field is a serious crime.
To make matters worse, the scene of the crime was the home of cricket. Say what you want about the English, but they have done a lot for us since Pakistan was deprived of international cricket, going as far as to host a “home series”](http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan-v-australia-2010/content/series/426346.html) for us against Australia. It’s ironic how the title of the series was meant to represent the sincerity of the gesture: “Spirit of Cricket”. Talk about not doing justice to those ideals. If any team right now can be accused of disgracing the spirit of cricket, it’s ours. Our team literally walked into someone else’s home who gave them room and board, made themselves comfortable, and then proceeded to defecate all over it.
Let me address a few reasons why some may find these crimes excusable.
Majeed himself mentions that some players are forced into this situation because they earn peanuts from the PCB. Not true. All the players involved in the scandal are on a central contract, which guarantees them a better life than they’re used to. Add match fees and substantial product
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8yIhCWSyPc
and you have enough income to live comfortably. So don’t dismiss this because our players don’t make enough to make ends meet. Condemn it because they want more than they deserve. It’s greed – plain and simple.
A more compelling argument is that of education. Amir, Asif, Kamran and many others are propelled into international stardom devoid of any scholastic fine-tuning. Schooling is not a priority for our players, and if one is bereft of the principles and disciple that comes with education it becomes harder to develop a moral compass. Furthermore, it doesn’t help when the PCB compounds the problem through an inconsistent and whimsical application of its own rules and penalties. From bans](http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/451392.html) to **exoneration](http://www.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/story/461263.html), the PCB has cultivated a culture of misplaced benevolence. Pariah one day, savior](http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakistan-2010/content/story/472953.html) the next. Our players simply are not taught accountability by the management.**
And now they are going to have to learn it the hard way.
In my last blog, I called this the best bowling attack in the world because I truly believe that. I also mentioned that our bowlers portray to the world the best that Pakistan has to offer. Sadly there is a dichotomy inherent in that boast as the same players can also exhibit the worst qualities of our country.
We don’t need that kind of exposure right now. We have millions of people displaced by floods who don’t have access to aid and resources because donations have been conspicuously low. Donors and charities are unsure](Who cares about Pakistan? - BBC News) of the sincerity of a notoriously corrupt government and fearful of their donations being redirected into selfish hands.
This scandal has the capacity to vindicate those fears. If the mainstream cricketers are crooks, what does it say about the institutions that sponsor them?
Re: So what's the big deal?
Thank you, GoldenAsif for advocating for the right thing in spite of the temptations to save pakistani 'reputation'. You are absolutely right - at the end of the day, whatever non-Pakistanis (including myself) may or may not say is irrelevant; the future of Pakistan will be determined by how Pakistanis react to this. Yes, it may feel like a conspiracy; but if one looks deeper, one will find an opportunity to stand up for what's right and giving Pakistani kids a belief that they are second to none, when it comes to integrity.
[quote="GoldenAsif, post:1809, topic:228388"]
How Low
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.
A pathetic way of tempering the ball is worse than more traditional ways of doing it! What a pathetic argument, shows your saffron colour. BTW, just to remind you that Tendulkar was found guilty of ball tampering as well.
Re: So what's the big deal?
Icon.. getting way too emotional bud..
How can you not be pisssed at Afridi for disgracing Pak cricket by eating the ball twice infront of thousands of spectators?
I said it myself... ball tampering deserves punishment.. repeated ones and to such an insane extent needs a fine... I believe Sachin was punished for that instance as well... A lot of players have been.. from various countries...
