It’s just not cricket

Last week, at the end of a landmark trial for both cricket and sport in general, Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were sentenced in relation to claims of match-fixing at the Lord’s Test against England last August.

The trial centred on the claims that bowlers Asif and Amir were ordered by captain Butt to bowl three deliberate “no-balls” in order to obtain corrupt payments. At first glance, the crime may not appear to be too serious; no-ball costs the bowling side one run and means the ball must be delivered again. However, it is the implications behind the action which pose as a major threat to the integrity and credibility of cricket, the most pertinent being whether this corruption is commonplace within in the sport and is simply going undetected, as players earn a fortune to destroy the game.

Butt has been sentenced to thirty months in jail for his part, notably for abusing his position of captain to encourage and spread corruption. Asif has been sentenced to one year and Amir to six months. The former two were found guilty at the case at Southwark Crown Court – Amir had pleaded guilty prior to the trial. Agent Mazhar Majeed has been sentenced to two years and eight months for his role in the scandal, in which he acted as the medium between the players and the issuers of the dirty money.

It is somewhat ironic that the drama occurred at Lord’s, the most quintessentially British sporting venue, and the keeper and founder of all the traditions of a sport which prides itself on fair-play.

Sally Walsh, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said the players had “brought shame on the cricket world” through their actions and “jeopardised the faith and admiration of cricket fans the world over”. As a result, world cricket’s governing body the ICC has a major job on its hands in ensuring that these sad events are rare occurrences and do not become part-and-parcel of a game that is ordered the world over.  Sadly, it seems the institution lacks the funds and the expertise to stamp out the corruption.

Perhaps more sadly, the case only came to light after a journalist from the now defunct News of the World was able to launch a sting operation, in which agent Majeed told him that “big money could be made” and gave details of the practice known as “spot-fixing”, before revealing when the no-balls would be bowled, demonstrating the power he had over the players. Many say that the scandal may never have been covered had it not been for the investigative journalism of the reporter. Former England captain Michael Vaughan also claimed that “the ICC do a decent job but they could do a lot more”.

Because of this lack of resources and because of this ultimate lack of information, the judge and the ICC have come down very hard on the players in question. Without adequate plans in place to prevent match-fixing, the only deterrent available to the ICC was to ensure that the strictest punishment possible was enforced upon the players.

The problem now facing the authorities is not just keeping corruption out of the game, but in convincing potentially disillusioned fans that the game remains clear of such greed and that the spectacle, the drama, the controversy that unfolds before their eyes is real, is competitive, but most of all, is clean.