Showing posts with label spot fixing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spot fixing. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2016

Sri Lanka Cricket Coach Suspended over Match Fixing Allegations


Posted by Q at Thursday, January 21, 2016 No Comments


Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) bowling coach, Anusha Samaranayake, was banned for 2 months on Monday 18th January over allegations of attempted match fixing. These allegations centre on the first Test match against the West Indies last October, a match that was won by Sri Lanka for an innings and six runs.

Samaranayake has been accused of introducing the main suspect of the investigation, net bowler Gayan Vishwajith, to the team. Vishwajith, who used to participate in training sessions, approached team members to intentionally underperform in matches.

The country’s cricket board recently declared that "SLC has received several complaints regarding a close relationship between Anusha Samaranayake and Gayan Vishwajith, who approached several players for the alleged illegal activities”.

It is suspected that the wicketkeeper Kusal Perera, who was suspended provisionally from the New Zealand tour after testing positive for steroids, and bowler Rangana Herath were offered around 10 million Sri Lanka rupees (around £48,600) to throw the game. The players rejected the offer, alerted officials and went on to win the match against the West Indies.

Vishwajith has been banned for life from any Sri Lankan cricketing grounds and events. Additionally, Perera is facing a possible four-year ban after failing the anti-doping test last October.

However, this is not a reason to stop betting on you favourite cricket team, scandals of match fixing have become a common topic lately but nothing will beat the feeling of watching your team play and betting on them with this bonus code.


Angelo Matthews, captain of SLC, stated that the goal is to have a fair and clean game and that “whoever has done something wrong, we want to bring them before the courts and take certain measures; as captain I have to mention that the cricketers felt really uncomfortable the last few days because they are the ones who came forward and reported this to the International Cricket Council.”

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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Are Butt, Aamer, and Asif really worth it?


Posted by Q at Tuesday, September 08, 2015 Pitched (2)
Five years have passed since Pakistan cricket was rocked by the worst scandal ever in its history -then Test captain Salman Butt and Pakistan's two premier fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were accused of spot fixing.

It seems like yesterday when they were handed 5-year bans from the game and jail terms for their role in spot fixing during the summer of 2010. There is some irony in the fact that they are once again eligible to play international cricket when Pakistan is gearing up for a series against England, the same opposition they played against last.

Noise has already been made by all three players about resurrecting their international careers.

Aamer's return is most likely considering that his return-path was paved for him 6 months ago when the ICC allowed him to return to domestic cricket, enabling him to play some competitive cricket before making a fully fledged international return. For Butt and Asif, it will be harder. They haven't played any competitive cricket for 5 years and both players are not as young as Aamer, who at 23 has a full career ahead of him.

I would place my money on them returning. Would be interesting to see what the odds are on betting sites regarding the return of these three cricketers.

Whether they will return to the Pakistan team or not is all together another question. Should they return is the more pertinent question really.

It seems a little unfair that Butt, Aamer, and Asif are now allowed to play international cricket again after disgracing their country and the sport on the international stage, while a player like Danish Kaneria is banned for life for coercing a domestic cricketer to accept money for fixing in a domestic game. What this means is that wrong doing in international cricket can be forgiven, while the same in domestic cricket cannot be? That is a bit perplexing for me.

And what about all the players who have represented Pakistan during the past 5 years with integrity and success? Is it fair for Aamer and Asif to come back into the team at the expense of Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, or Rahat Ali? Is it fair for Salman Butt to make a return at the expense of Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Mukhtar Ahmed, Nauman Anwar, Sami Aslam, or Babar Azam? Definitely not.

These are arguments based on moral grounds.

Here's a look at how these three faired in the three formats before their bans, and whether their return is warranted on a statistical basis or not.

The records that stand out are Salman Butt and Mohammad Aamer in ODIs, and Mohammad Asif in Tests. In T20Is, all three had below par figures. While in tests Butt and Aamer were just about average, and likewise for Asif in ODIs.

I can probably shed more light on these three after comparing their figures with those of the players who replaced them in the past 5 years.

In test matches, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, and Taufeeq Umar have all performed far better than Salman Butt ever did in his career. Even Shan Masood, who is just finding his feet in test cricket, seems like a better test opener than Salman Butt. 

Azhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed have been a revelation at the top for Pakistan, and have performed better than most openers. Even Shehzad has a solid record that is comparable to Salman Butt's. 

Salman Butt was never an opener in the T20 mould and Pakistan have far better batsmen to do that job. Shehzad and Mukhtar have both performed better than Butt did, while all the batsmen in the table above, barring Nasir Jamshed, have a better T20 strike rate than Butt's.

It is quite clear from all this that Salman Butt has no place in Pakistan's international team for any format.

On the bowling front, however, the story is a bit different. 

In tests, there has been no fast bowler for Pakistan who has performed as well as Asif. Not even one who has done so as well as Aamer either, besides Tanvir Ahmed who appeared for a short time and then fell out of favor for reasons best known to selectors. In fact, besides Tanvir, only Imran Khan averages under 30 among the pacers that have played for Pakistan in the past 5 years since Aamer and Asif got banned. 

While there have been several bowlers for Pakistan who have done far better than Asif in ODIs; such as Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali, Aizaz Cheema, Mohammad Irfan, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, and Junaid Khan; there has been not a single one who has performed at the level of Mohammad Aamer.

Pakistan's pace bowling has definitely not been the same during the absence of Aamer and Asif, who together created arguably the best attacking pair Pakistan has had since Wasim and Waqar. It is unfortunate that they played together for less than a year and that their best years were taken away from them due to their own grave mistakes.

Once can only sit and wonder what could have been had these two not succumbed to greed and had continued to share the new ball for Pakistan over the past 5 years.

While statistically there is no argument about whether Aamer and Asif should return to Pakistan's colors; however on moral ground there is still plenty of debate.

On Salman Butt however, there should be no debate. Pakistan has far better resources at the moment to go back to a dead weight like Butt.

Butt might have served his 5-year ban from cricket and his jail term, but the damage he has done to Pakistan cricket deserves more punishment in my opinion. He was the captain of the team when all this drama ensued. That only means that he needs to accept more responsibility than both Aamer and Asif who were in a way coerced by Butt to bowl those no balls. Butt was in control of the bowers on the field. He was the sole decision maker regarding who to throw the ball to. He was the one who ensured that Aamer and Asif bowled those particular overs and the no balls on those specific deliveries. The control was all in Butt's hands. He was critical to the whole spotfix. Without him, it would not have been possible.

Just this fact that it was Butt who enable the whole fix should ensure that he never plays for Pakistan again. Ban or no ban, Salman Butt should never be allowed to don the Pakistan cap.

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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Stay at Home Butt!


Posted by Q at Sunday, July 01, 2012 Pitched (1)
I have thought and thought and have failed to understand what Salman Butt hoped to achieve through his interview on Express News on Thursday and his press conference on Friday.

"I am innocent", "it was Mazhar and Aamir", "I did not get justice", "I want the supreme court to look into this".

Cut the bullshit Butt!

Seriously.

I can't believe that he is still trying to fool the Pakistan fans. Our seniors might have gotten away with screaming the same phrases, which they do so today as well, but lets face it man - the evidence that is in front of the entire nation paints Salman Butt as the main culprit in this whole spotfixing drama and there is no way that he can change the perception of the public, the team management, the cricket board, or the ICC.

Impossible.

Zaka Ashraf has already stated that whatever Salman Butt said were his personal views and the PCB has nothing to do with it.

Majority of the media in Pakistan is not buy his claims of innocence.

And neither is the public with 90% of the fans refusing to believe him in this poll conducted by the Express Tribune.

Who is he trying to fool anyway?

We are not going to forget his face that hung with shame and guilt during the first press conference held in England on the day the spot-fixing news was made public. Yawar Saeed had to step in and answer as Butt could barely speak.

We are not going to forget Butt walking up to Aamir just before the delivery to Trott and then looking on with intent at the line that Aamir was supposed to overstep (and did) instead of concentrating on the batsman.

We are not going to forget the pictures of Butt and Mazhar Majeed roaming around the UK in a convertible.

We are not going to forget about the money that was found in Butt's room, nor your statement where you first said that it was your own money for your sister's wedding, and then said some of it came from the opening of an ice-cream parlor and the rest from adidas.

We are not going to forget the lies and deceit Salman Butt. We are not.

I can't believe that he is actually blaming the whole thing on Mazhar Majeed and Mohammad Aamir. He is carrying around a document that shows text message between Mazhar and Aamir - but what about all those phone conversations and text messages between Mazhar and Salman Butt?

Butt might have forgotten but the ICC tribunal that banned the trio from the game actually made their report and findings public. So he needs to realize that his lies about not exchanging calls or messages with Mazhar and not brokering a deal to bowl the no balls are not going to fly with us.

The best thing Salman Butt could have done after returning from the UK was to sit at home and not speak to or meet with anyone.

I reckon he should still do that and just disappear.

He really should not harbor any hopes of playing cricket ever again.

Aamir might even return to international cricket with all the support he is getting from the ICC and the PCB. While Asif might even end up playing some domestic / club cricket once his ban is over.

But Salman Butt; all he deserves is to sit at home and never face the public ever again!

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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Do We Believe Mohammad Amir's Story?


Posted by Q at Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Pitched (2)
I want to. I really want to. I want to believe that Mohammad Amir was an innocent 18 year old boy who was set up by his friend and captain, and his fixer.

But I can't.

There are a lot of things about Mohammad Amir's interview that are bothering me, and I feel like we are being told a story that is not true. I feel like we, the Pakistan cricket fans, are being lied to again.

Since the interview aired, I've heard a wide variety of thoughts from the general public and Twitterati. A section feels sorry for the kid and believe he was truly set up, and another section believes he is lying.

Many also feel that this is just the start of his rehabilitation and image building plan that has been put in place by his well wishers.

That it may be, but let me start with why I am having a hard time believing this story of a set up.

Why Now?
Even those who believe Amir have been asking this question since last night. Why now? Why tell the world that you were set up now when you had 18 months to do it? Why stay quiet all this time?

The day the story broke in the News of the World, there were senior men in the Pakistan dressing room like Yawar Saeed, and many back in Pakistan, like Ijaz Butt, who had repeatedly requested Amir to be honest and tell them the truth.

But Amir remained quiet. Why?

I understand that at first he denied all accusations because he panicked and then finally pleaded guilty after he was guided appropriately. That's fine.

But then why remain quiet after pleading guilty? Why not tell your story then? Wouldn't that have been the right time to tell the world that you were set up?

I am not sure if there is some law that does not allow those who plead guilty to turn into a witness in a case, but if there isn't then why didn't Amir just become a witness in this whole spot fixing hoopla? His story would have surely helped the prosecution!

So why now Amir?

Why Couldn't he Trust anyone else besides Salman Butt?
Amir says that the reason why he chose to remain quiet was because he did not know who to trust since the person he trusted the most had just betrayed him. He hadn't even told this story to his family according to him.

Did he really not trust anyone else more than Salman?

Wasim Akram is his self proclaimed idol. He has talked about calling Wasim bhai on many occasions for advice. Wasim bhai was also the one who spotted him in a camp and groomed him whenever he got the chance.

So how difficult was it to pick the phone up and tell Wasim bhai how badly you had been trapped?

Waqar Younis was the team coach. Waqar had been working with Amir for many months and surely Waqar would have taught him a thing or two about bowling and how to conduct oneself considering Waqar had also burst into the scene as an 18 year old. I'm also quite sure that Waqar would have developed some sort of relationship with Pakistan's rising star in the dressing room. So why was it so hard to sit down with Waqar and explain to him how you had been set up?

Aqib Javed was also with the team. Aqib must have seen Amir during his time with U19 team and the NCA as well. Aqib is known to have a good relationship with all players, and in particular with the juniors. Aqib has been one of the most respected members of the team's coaching staff in recent years. Why couldn't Amir trust him?

Moreover, before Salman Butt, Amir had played under the captaincy of Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, and Shahid Afridi during his 14 month cricket career. Were Pakistan's senior most cricketers not trustworthy for Amir?

Where the F&*$ is Ali?
There is enough evidence in the text messages exchanged between Amir and Ali for the authorities to implicate Ali in a spotfixing case.

Here is a man who was trying to corrupt a young cricketer and he is no where to be found? Whose failure is that? His numbers and texts were found on Amir's phone so why didn't anyone try and get hold of him? Amir says Ali was Salman Butt's friend whom he had met in Dubai. How hard could it be to trace him? Why did no one try and question Ali in the court?

Amir has openly accused Ali of being complicit with Salman Butt and Mazhar Majeed in setting him up. If Amir was fighting this case in court, Ali would be a key witness wouldn't he?

Now I am no psychiatrist but if you take a look at the interview again, then when the first time Atherton mentions Ali, Amir changes his posture, raises the pitch of his voice, and then speaks about him. Now it could be that Amir got angry, hence the change in body language, but to me it just seemed like he was lying.

Did He Really Not See the Setup Coming?
Now we all know that he is an 18-19 year old boy, but he is not a dimwit.

Amir himself said he was curious to find out what Ali wanted from him, which is why he initially entertained his text messages and asked him what he wanted, before telling Ali that he would not do it.

Amir knew that he had done nothing wrong with respect to what Ali had asked him, so why did he get scared of ICC getting a hold of those text messages? The ICC didn't get hold of them but that is what Mazhar Majeed told him to set him up according to Amir.

I find it hard to believe that an inquisitive person like Amir who has enough sense to probe Ali to find out what he wants, and has enough sense to tell Salman Butt twice that he would not get involved in fixing, doesn't have the sense to say to Mazhar that it doesn't matter if the ICC has got hold of the text messages, they can't do anything to him because he hasn't done anything wrong.

He could have very easily walked away from Mazhar's car in the parking lot after saying that he would not do it. But he didn't.

According to Amir he panicked and he really thought he was in trouble. But how could one be in trouble when you haven't taken any money from a bookie / fixer, nor have you underperformed?

If you have not seen the interview then please go here and take a look and decide for yourself if you want to believe Mohammad Amir or not.

Whether its true or not, Michael Atherton has done a wonderful job getting us this story. And despite the fact that I have my doubts about the credibility of the story, I do feel sorry for Mohammad Amir, who I believe suffered from a generally corrupt dressing room environment.

He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Atherton ends the interview with a very pertinent question: will cricket ever want Mohammad Amir back?

Its a difficult question. A part of me wants to see him in those green colours so badly, but another part of me is frustrated that I am still being lied to.

But does it really matter that Amir has lied in this interview? Or what matters more is that fact that he has served his punishment in jail, he is serving his ICC ban, he has learnt his lesson and will never fix again, and that he has apologized endlessly to all his fans?

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Friday, December 17, 2010

We Deserve Answers


Posted by Q at Friday, December 17, 2010 Pitched (4)
What is going on in Pakistan cricket?

Yes we all heard that the ICC gave the PCB an ultimatum about cleaning up their act and getting their house in order.

But what exactly has the PCB been up to since then?

A lot for sure, but why have we, the general public, been kept in the dark?

First Kamran Akmal was not selected for the series against South Africa. Initially there was news about an appendicitis operation, but then even when he was fit, and Haider ran away, the senior Akmal was not selected.

Even Akmal was unsure as to why he was not selected and he requested the ICC for information on whether he was under any suspicion regarding spot fixing. The ICC gave him a letter clearing him!

Then there was the Danish Kaneria issue. A day before the test players were to fly out to the UAE for the series against South Africa, the PCB disallowed Kaneria from joining the team.

Why!?

And then came the news that the ICC has asked the PCB to not consider Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria, and Shoaib Malik in the initial pool of 30 players for the ICC World Cup!

Why!?

Yes we all know that there are suspicions regarding match fixing or spot fixing, but what exactly are those suspicions? Does the ICC have have reservations or the PCB? Do any of them have any evidence? Why are there conflicting reports every where? Why aren't the PCB or the ICC coming out in the open and publicly telling us what is going on? Why is everything going on behind closed doors?

Yes, we would like to see Pakistan cricket cleaned up, but whatever is being done regarding it, I believe the general public deserve the right to know.

The latest news now is that the PCB's integrity committee has grilled Akmal, Malik, and Kaneria and has asked them certain questions - what questions!?

We deserve answers!

Not from the players, but from the PCB and the ICC!

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Saturday, October 30, 2010

What is the Purpose of the ICC Spot Fixing Hearings?


Posted by Q at Saturday, October 30, 2010 Pitched (1)
The UAE was abuzz today with the Pakistan cricket team involved in several engagements.

While Pakistan's ODI squad trained at the Sheikh Zayed cricket stadium in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, Salman Butt and Mohammad Aamer were busy with their lawyers and the ICC Code of Conduct Commission at the ICC Headquarters in Dubai. The two players, suspended for their alleged involvement in spot fixing, were there for the first day of hearings for their appeals against the suspension.

This whole situation regarding the players' suspension and ICC hearings seems a bit peculiar to me. The hearings will not lead to proving the innocence or guilt of either Salman or Aamer - then what exactly is the point?

As far as I understand it, the conclusion of the hearings will result in ICC making the decision of whether the players can resume their cricket careers or not. The players were suspended because the ICC felt that they had violated ICC's anti-corruption code, and now the players are appealing against that and trying to prove that they did not violate the code.

So if the hearings conclude that the players did not violate the code then does it not mean that they are innocent? At the same time if the suspensions remain, then does it not mean that the players are guilty?

Logical reasoning would lead anyone to that conclusion. Yet, it won't and I don't really understand why.

There is another investigation that is undergoing - the police are involved, however charges have not been pressed yet. Wouldn't ICC's verdict after these two days of hearings have a bearing on the decision of the other case?

What happens if the ICC clears the players, but the police charges them? Or if the ICC does not clear them but the police drops all the charges?

For sanity to prevail, both the verdicts need to be the same. Which means that ICC's verdict will surely have a bearing on the overall verdict. Yet the innocence or guilt of the players will not be decided after tomorrow.

Are you as confused as I am?

The statements that Salman and Aamer have given over the last few days indicate that the players are confident about being cleared. Salman has blamed Mazhar Majeed for exaggerating and also defended his association with the player agent. Aamer has been less vocal, yet silently confident of being cleared.

I'm not really sure how these hearings are going to go down, but I just feel the ICC acted in this manner because the world spoke of how ineffective their Anti Corruption Unit was / is. Since they had not been able to do much in eradicating the menace of match / spot fixing, they went ahead and suspended the players to show that they are not a toothless body.

I don't know if the players are innocent or guilty, but its for the police and the courts to decide that, not the ICC. The ICC have put themselves in a difficult position and probably the only way out for them is to clear the players, and sit back for the verdict from the police case.

Maybe that's the reason for the confident statements from Salman and Aamer.



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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Food for thought for fans of Pakistan Cricket


Posted by Saaid at Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Pitched (11)

Day before yesterday the aim of this blog entry was to go through each player’s performance in the team and then try to determine if the player justified their selection. However after what has been happening for the past 2 days in regards to spot-fixing allegations against the Pakistani team, that blog article seemed a little pointless. Since there isn’t much to be said till the investigation completes, here is some food for thought.

I would like to put some stakes in the ground, the first one being that up till now these allegations are just that – allegation. Innocent until proven guilty, and by proven guilty I mean an official verdict is passed that these folks are guilty. Moreover what we have here is the word and evidence provided by a tabloid, also referred to as the gutter press. Journalistic integrity and responsibility is opportunistic at best where tabloids are involved. What we also have here is a cricket team which on numerous occasions has been accused of such activities and we the general public will never really know the whole story. Also in the picture are going to be folks who have their own agendas, who want to share the limelight or might have a vendetta to pursue against the people involved.

The reason I mention these things is because when the news about these allegations broke, I found it very difficult to separate the reality of the situation with the influence these factors had in how the situation presented itself. I of course talk about the media coverage that was given (in Pakistan and abroad) to these allegations. The media has all but declared Akmal, Butt, Aamer and Asif guilty without doubt, with everyone coming out of the woodwork and giving their own versions of the story ala Shahid Afridi and Veena Malik. Im not saying that these stories are true or false, but it is the case of one’s word versus another’s and that is not something that one can argue upon so let’s not dwell on these.

Personally I believe that until proven guilty without doubt the Pakistan team (the alleged and otherwise) needs the support of its fans. That does not mean that we don’t have an opinion about whether there was any wrong-doing involved or not, it just means that these are dire circumstances and without the support of its fans, Pakistan cricket will not come out of this hole they have dug for themselves.

I am an out and out fan of the game and of Pakistani cricket, as are most Pakistanis I know, and I will be devastated if these allegations are true; devastated and angry. But I don’t want to let my anger and disappointment do my thinking for me. I don’t want to let the media dictate my opinion, I don’t want to them to paint an 18 year old child guilty because it appears that way. However that is easier said than done. I am trying to write this blog with a level head and without any bias, and I am having to exercise a lot of restraint in doing so. I hope fans of Pakistan cricket can do the same.


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