A correct move by the ICC

The move by the ICC to provisionally suspend the cricketers may be unprecedented but the correct one.

The move by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to provisionally suspend Salman Butt, Mohammed Aamir and Mohammed Asif, the three cricketers accused of spot-fixing, may be unprecedented but the correct one. The clause allowing for a pre-emptive suspension was only added to cricket’s anti-corruption code last year and this is the first time it has been used. Although the Pakistan management had already decided not to play the three cricketers in the upcoming ODI and T20 matches against England, by taking this action the ICC has shown that it is serious about tackling the scourge of match-fixing. The players have the right to appeal this decision but in doing so they would have to prevent compelling testimony that they are, in fact, innocent. Based on the revelations so far, they will find that hard.

Even more worryingly for the accused cricketers, the ICC decided to suspend them only after holding extensive talks with Scotland Yard. This is indicative of the strength of the proof against the players. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan may then want to avoid giving bombastic statements about the players being “set up”. This is a serious charge and one for which no proof has been offered. There is plenty of proof, however, that Pakistan cricket has been ruined by corruption. News reports indicate that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt was initially reluctant to agree to the suspension. This shows that the PCB is still more concerned with defending the narrow interests of a few players rather than the health of the game in Pakistan, or that under its current leadership it is simply unable to grasp the gravity of the crisis. Indeed, it is ironic that the PCB is now adopting the “innocent till proven guilty” mantra given that it hastily handed out life bans to Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf earlier this year without even attempting to justify the decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2010.