Can cricket afford to gloat at itself after the spot-fixing verdict? Lawrence Booth, in the Daily Mail, does not think so, and says that it must be kept in mind that it needed a newspaper to do part of the ICC’s anti-corruption job. Seen in that light, the prosecution of the Pakistani cricketers looks less like a vindication of cricket’s capacity to self-police than a ruffle of the hair for tabloid journalism. What if the News of the World train their sights elsewhere next time? Who will shine the light…
Written on February 9, 2011 | Posted in
Betting/Corruption,
Cricket,
News,
Pakistan,
Sports,
US,
corruption,
icc,
police,
spot-fixing |
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If ever the players who have given statements to police are found guilty in court or by cricket authorities, I hope that the following is taken into account in the case of Mohammad Amir. Only 18, and from an impoverished background, Amir would appear as much victim as perpetrator, a teenager whose head was easily turned, writes Derek Pringle in the Telegraph. Surely his seniors should have been assuring him that his talent is a thousand times greater than any loathsome parasite who grooms players for a role in a…
Ricky Ponting, writing in the Australian, outlines Australia’s philosophy of trying to win every game. It is inconceivable to me that anybody would try to throw a game or be involved in fixing. I was completely shocked when I saw it on television and read the papers … It is the collateral damage that is most concerning to us and naturally the focus comes back to the Sydney Test. Not for one moment did any of us suspect that anything untoward or suspicious was happening as that game unfolded. It…
The British press has expressed shock, disappointment, anger and a sense of betrayal over the Pakistan spot-fixing allegations. All agree that the damage to the game has been enormous, and that if anyone is found guilty, punishment should be exemplary. The Guardian, in an editorial, says that even a decade after the Hansie Cronje affair, the devastating claims of fixing still hold up. That Mohammad Amir, a precocious talent, is at the heart of the current allegations is particularly damaging. Cricket must put its house in order fast. Nothing undermines…
It is not yet clear if anything will come of the allegations of so-called “spot-fixing” against a pair of Essex cricketers. However, it would be naive in the extreme to think that fixing does not go on and, despite the best efforts at regulation. The shorter the game, the easier it is to fix outcomes, which therefore makes Twenty20 vulnerable, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian. Some years ago, I arrived at Lord’s for a domestic final, to be greeted by a friend who likes his gamble. What, he asked,…
If Essex players are found guilty of any wrong-doing, the implications for English cricket would be huge and financially disastrous, writes Scyld Berry in the Sunday Telegraph….
