Reap what you sow

In delaying its verdict on the futures of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir by nearly a month, the ICC tribunal may have done Pakistani fans a favour. It has given us more time to process the inevitable, that all three are guilty of spot-fixing and selling out their country for personal enrichment. In handing down a 10-year ban (five of which are suspended) to Butt and a seven-year ban (two of which are suspended) to Asif, the ICC has effectively ended their careers. Amir is young enough to come back after serving his five-year ban although returning after a prolonged absence will not be easy. The cricketers have the option of appealing the verdict with the Court of Arbitration for Sport but, given that an British authorities intend to prosecute them for conspiracy to cheat and accepting corrupt payments, this may not be a good option.

For Butt, Asif and Amir, the future couldn’t be clearer. They will live their days out in shame and infamy. Fans will do their best to blot out the memory of this disgraceful episode and continue supporting their cleansed team. Meanwhile, the latter has had encouraging series against South Africa and New Zealand and there finally seems to be a measure of stability in the days leading up to the World Cup. To assume, however, that after the verdict all is well and good with Pakistani cricket would be a folly. Part of the reason the cricketers felt they could get away with corruption was the PCB’s head-in-the-sand stance over the years. By all accounts, match-fixing was present in the 1990s but bans were handed down against cricketers only after they had retired from the sport.


The PCB needs to ensure it is vigilant and doesn’t automatically assume a defensive posture when its cricketers are charged with corruption. As for the cricketers, while they earn far more than most of their countrymen, they are paid far less than most other international cricketers. With the PCB’s finances in a mess and international cricket halted in the country due to terrorism, they will have to accept that pride in representing their country compensates any shortfalls in earning potential.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6th, 2011.