ICC's Selective 'fixing' Of Blame To ArrestSpot-fixing In Cricket

By: Gowhar Geelani
These days it is quite fashionable to indulge in Pakistan bashing. It [the bashing exercise] pays in more than one way. It also gives you a few certificates for free: “liberal, well educated, modern-thinking, an enlightened and a secular person.” If any Pakistani national is charged for rash driving in Dubai, breaking a traffic signal in Berlin, crossing the speed limit in Tokyo, fighting inside a London nightclub, or, found drunk in the streets of Damascus after a verbal brawl there with a native, we have a ready-made argument from the "enlightened" class: "No wonder the culprit belongs to Pakistan. Their country, I'm sorry, is in a terrible mess. A failed state, you know! It is a safe sanctuary for the 'terrorists' of Taliban, Al-Qaeda and many other 'dangerous' terror outfits." All evidence heard, verdict pronounced and hence the case dismissed.

After the recent spot-fixing scandal in the game of cricket, this distinguished enlightened class have to add one more sentence to their favourite argument: "Pakistanis even cheat in cricket, that's so pathetic!"

We all know that rest of the world is crime proof, morally upright, and corruption free in all matters; social, political, and in sports as well! Ahh!!

Cricket –described by many as a gentleman's game, has once again been brought into disrepute; thanks to Pakistan's 'talented and tainted' trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.

To be brutally honest, the true fans of this great sport shouldn't feel sorry about the sentences handed down in Southwark Crown Court, London, on the morning of the 3rd November, but given Amir's younger age it is but natural to feel a touch sad for him.

Imran Khan –the man who led Pakistan to coveted World Cup victory in 1992, too feels sad for Mohammad Amir.

"It is a painful decision. Amir is in such an age where he is vulnerable. When the President of the country is corrupt to the core; is also the patron of the PCB, the sportsmen think and feel when the President can get away with it; they too can. But in the long term, the judgement could serve in the interest of the game. Fixing has tarnished the image of Pakistan and the game of cricket; feel sorry for the cricketers and their family," Khan told the media channels.

Like few others, I also feel for the families of these three cricketers-turned-culprits, who admitted that they conspired to cheat; bowled three pre-determined no balls, and accepted corrupt payments for executing the wicked plan of spot-fixing. What these three players have done is shameful, filthy and sordid. No doubt. One must not forget that crime never pays; sooner or later a criminal has to pay, so the trio too has paid.

However, the menace and nuisance of the match-fixing and spot-fixing in cricket doesn't start and end with this latest episode involving Butt, Asif and Amir.

Cricket is also known as the game of glorious uncertainties. For all the good reasons, this great game is full of surprises on the field; but for all the bad reasons it has thrown many a surprises off the field as well.

I, for one, do not suggest for a moment that the sentences handed down by a Britain Court are harsh. A precedent needed to be set. And I'm glad that it has been. The guilty players needed to be punished. Salman Butt –the former Pakistan skipper and by far a better English speaker than his contemporary team mates, has been sentenced to two years and six months in jail for his main role in the spot-fixing case; Mohammad Asif has got one-year jail sentence and Mohammad Amir six months. Mazhar Majeed, the players' agent and fixer, has been sentenced to two years and eight months in jail. Young Amir, however, has been sent to a young offenders' detention centre, not to jail.

All done and dusted.

On the personal front, I'll indeed be missing Salman's cracking cover drives, his gutsy cuts through the point region, wristy flicks, graceful glances, and all his shots that have been so pleasing on the eye. I'll certainly be missing Asif's astonishing accuracy with the ball, his in-swingers, the out-swingers and that very mean economy rate resembling McGrath’s. I'll of course be missing Amir's positive attitude towards the game, his nippy action, bouncers, outgoing deliveries with the left-arm angle and then that surprise ball that comes in to the right handed batsman. It is a huge loss to the world of cricket.

I am mourning that loss!

But, all of this is only one aspect of this menace of match-fixing in cricket. The role of the International Cricket Council [ICC] –cricket's governing body, is questionable on more than one count.

When it comes to take a stance against the stronger and richer cricketing nations such as Australia, India and England, the ICC acts like a "dead horse". It's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit [ACSU] –meant to check and arrest the match-fixing in cricket, is a "toothless tiger". Even England's test skipper, Andrew Strauss, believes so.

"...I still think the ICC could be doing a lot more than they are doing. Unfortunately, the anti-corruption unit is a pretty toothless tiger. They can't get into the real depth of it all because they haven't got the resources available to them. I don't hold it against them; they're doing the best job they possibly can. They can't do sting operations like the ‘News of the World,’ they can't infiltrate these betting networks. They've tried their best," Strauss told ESPNcricinfo.

But every law –howsoever holy, justified, draconian or laughable, is automatically applicable to the weaker and poorer cricketing nations; such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe. But when it comes to the richer nations, their hegemony and arrogance become laws! If the Indian cricket board, the BCCI, refuses to accept the Umpires Decision Review System [UDRS], the ICC gratefully obliges. When the BCCI babus speak, the ICC helmsmen listen with respect and surrender in fear! Would the ICC dare to take cudgels with the mighty, powerful and the rich BCCI?

Had some Indian, Aussie or English players been involved in the spot-fixing, would the ICC have had guts to slap bans up to five years or more, as the governing body of cricket did against the three Pakistani players? The answer, undoubtedly, is NO.

The spot-fixing and match-fixing exists in cricket even now. There are heightened fears that the players of many high-profile countries might be involved in this corrupt practice of making huge bucks the easy way. But, the ICC doesn't have the belly to raise a finger of suspicion towards them for obvious reasons.

The public memory, unfortunately, is short-lived. Let's not forget the history of match-fixing in the game of cricket that many of us love so much and follow passionately.

Former India captain and match-fixer, Mohammad Azhar-ud-Din, is sitting comfortably in India's Parliament today. Yes, a life ban was slapped on him, but the respect for the match fixer is so much that he was overwhelmingly voted to the Parliament. Ajay Jadeja, a 'co-fixer', is voicing his expert views on the game of cricket on a private television channel. At one time, Jadeja was accused and perceived guilty of fixing the game he once used to play. Marlon Samuels of West Indies too was found involved in fixing and today he’s on India’s tour playing for his country. Former South Africa skipper, Hansie Cronje admitted to match fixing and later died in a mysterious plane crash. It was Azhar who had introduced Hansie Cronje to the world of fixing!

Azhar-ud-Din, Ajay Jadeja, Sharma, H Gibbs, H Williams, Tim May, M Waugh, M Samuels, Salim Malik; and many more cricketers were accused to be involved in the corrupt practices of match fixing in one or the other way. But no one seems to be talking about them anymore, because the intended target is obviously one nation.
Now many ex-cricketers, especially from India, are talking so loudly about morals and ethics in the game of cricket, as if match-fixing and spot-fixing started and ended with Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir...!!!

Those who want to know where the financial nerve centre of the match fixing is; how did this menace start and spread, and how was it exposed, should definitely read the “Outlook” Issue of June 11, 1997.

[…The Indians, if you believed the buzz, don't lose matches; they simply tank them. Go by the buzz, and greed, commerce seem to be the main operatives. In last year's Titan Cup [1996] finals between India and South Africa, the police say the turnover of bookies in Mumbai alone was well over Rs 43 crore. … Suddenly, no match seems to be above suspicion. Amazingly, not even some of the best known names in Indian cricket are spared. In the course of its reporting, Outlook kept hearing some names with alarming regularity, including those of Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia and former India manager Ajit Wadekar. Pakistan's Aamir Sohail had spoken to Outlook (April 9, 1997), saying "two Indian players" had approached him during the '94 Singer Cup in Sri Lanka to "fix" a one dayer. "I told them they'd come to the wrong guy," he had said. The accusation is lent credence by Manoj Prabhakar's testimonial. Wadekar, then, had dismissed Sohail's allegation. Indeed, in the two months that Outlook chased the story, anybody who's somebody in Indian cricket admitted match-fixing was on, but were unwilling to go on record.] Outlook, June 11, 1997 Issue.

Selective fixing of blame will not cure the disease of match fixing and spot-fixing!

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Gowhar Geelani is a Kashmiri journalist with more than a decade-long professional experience at the national as well as international level.