Spot-fixing culprits get their just deserts

The ICC, not the most renowned organisation for getting things done (or doing them properly), showed some welcome grit when handing down the verdicts in the now infamous spot-fixing scandal against Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and former captain Salman Butt.

For those not familiar with the details of the case, the three cricketers were found guilty of conspiring to fix certain moments in a Test match against England at Lords in August 2009. They were outed after being caught up in a News of the World sting operation, which saw the newspaper offer the players’ agent, Mazhar Majeed, 50 000 pounds (more than R550 000), which he accepted, as payment for the players to bowl no-balls at specific moments during the Test match. Butt’s cooperation was necessary since, as skipper, he had control over who bowled at which end and when.

The newspaper alleged that such a transaction was proof of spot-fixing, a betting practice that focuses on specific moments during a match and isn’t reliant on the result. Majeed told the News of the World that Amir would bowl the first over of the innings, and bowl a no-ball as the first ball of his third over. Both these predictions, along with pin-pointing an Asif no-ball on the sixth ball of the tenth over, saw Majeed arrested for attempting to defraud bookmakers. The ICC subsequently investigated, finding that Majeed is close to many of the Pakistan players, many of whom the ICC had been watching for several seasons.

Since that point, on August 29 2010, after much finger-pointing, bickering and questioning, the ICC finally delivered the verdict Haroon Lorgart had promised on August 30. Butt was banned for 10 years, with five suspended. Asif received seven years with two suspended while Amir, the youngest of the three at 19, will not be able to walk onto an ICC-sanctioned field for five years.

Ever since the Hansie Cronje scandal, which awoke the ICC and world cricket to the truly nefarious nature of betting in the game, the ICC has shown genuine game and gumption in ensuring the game is cherished in the correct spirit. Though it is played for the profit of everyone involved from players to the administrators, the profit should never be manipulated by removing uncertainty in a cricket match. It deprives the spectator of the notion that what they see is real and without that trust between the game and its fan base, cricket would cease to be a meaningful pastime.

There are many victims in this mess, but it is a deplorable fate that should befall Mohammad Amir. We will only be able to see his talent again in 2016, a waste of a bowler with such wonderful gifts. Able to swing the ball both ways at high pace, while maintaining a line that asks the batsman questions, is a precious commodity in the cricket and but for some very poor judgement on his part, he’s the type of cricketer that puts bums in seats.

Asif’s demise is also a massive pity, considering that he has been the best line-and-length bowler in world cricket since the retirement of Glenn McGrath. But at 28, having run into the authorities before testing for steroids (twice) and being caught at Dubai Airport with a recreational drug in his wallet (which he was not prosecuted for), his time as a cricketer is over. A man who betrays the game as he has done shouldn’t be referred to as one, but still, so much lost.

Butt’s fall from grace is also disappointing, but with a batting average of below 31 from 62 innings, his value isn’t as important to Pakistan’s batting (arguably) as was his confidence and attitude. That confidence perhaps has been his undoing, and he will only be back at the age of 31. That is meant to be in a batsman’s golden years, but whether or not he gets another chance is up for vigorous debate.

This sentence alone hasn’t swept all away that is ill with the underworld of cricket betting. Shady bookmakers will always think about hanging around hotels and becoming friends with players, so responsibility lies at the feet of cricketers and administrators in charge of ensuring the game is played in the correct spirit. The ICC has sent a message that it won’t tolerate such breaches of trust, so we can only hope that they continue such vigilance and shy those susceptible to such corruption back toward the side of right.

The question of the right side of the game is what is at stake, and without that integrity, there is nothing but bitter dust in its place.