VERY ANALYTICAL.ECHOES MY FEELINGS, ALTHOUGH I DO NOT BET AND COULD NOT MAKE MONEY AS THE WRITER DID.SERIOUSLY,THE FIRST ONES TO BE BLAMED ARE THE ADMINISTRATORS.NOBODY--EVEN THE POWERFUL BCCI--SEEMS TO HAVE THE GUTS AND SUSPEND THE ACCUSED PLAYERS.THEY TALK OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LAW OF"NOT GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN".SO MUCH EYEWASH.IF I KNOW CORRECT,IN THE OLYMPICS THEY SUSPEND ACCUSED PLAYERS PENDING FINAL INVESTIGATION.SURELY WHAT IS GOOD FOR OLYMPICS SHOULD BE MORE THAN SUFFICIENT FOR CRICKET.PLEASE WAKE UP AND SUSPEND THE FOUR PLAYERS IMMEDIATELY.

Could it be that Salman Butt at mid-off is watching Aamer's front foot? To make sure he's following the plan? Wow!

Just reading between the lines here... Look at Salman Butt in this picture. He is looking at the bowler and not the batsman, when the ball is being delivered. Leads to suspicion that he knows it all :-)

An extremely well written and reasoned blog. If the allegations are proven, then there must be punishment. However, a life ban for Amir is over the top. A suspension for a number of years is more appropriate. I would be far more accepting of the pressing for lifetime bans from people like Michael Vaughan if I were convinced that his position would be the same if Amir played for England. I am not convinced. There is a strong "holier than thou", element in the reaction. Although inconvenient at times, the principle of " innocent until proven guilty" is sacrosanct. We must adhere to it. Let the investigations proceed. Strong, commonsense decisions are likely to result. Not " off with their heads" knee jerk reactions.

picture says it all..........what is happening to gentleman's game,honestly i've been following lot of sub continent cricket and i must say i had doubts about players.i dont think this happened overnight ans this has been happening for a while.take srilankan fast bowler who's popular for his no balls for a example??????????i mean come on....

No Selim, I don't think that happened, because I personally know that I've seen Salman Butt look at the bowler 100 times every match when he is bowling the ball.

Now we are being told that the bookie cannot be prosecuted because a bet wasn't placed. Which means that the bowlers cannot be be prosecuted too. So I am confused as to what kind of an investigation from Scotland Yard are we waiting for? The evidence so far has been damning but no one will be prosecuted. If that is the case then under what law will these players be banned. They can just go to court and say that nothing was proven against us. With out concrete proof the court has to side with them. This whole episode is turning into a circus.

As always we ignore the double standards here....I have no sympathies with the erring cricketers but Mr Writer, you line up millions in 'fair and legal bets' on the future of a game, and expect players sweating it out in the sun all day to not bait the hook...Dont act personally hurt, when you created the monster in the first place....

All these Sherlock Holmes are giving verdicts by looking at the picture. What a mockery. A tabloid showing a video after the event claiming to be filemed before the event with no player therein and heavens have fallen. Ricky Ponting calling it their culture and yet no actions taken when Steve Wagh and Shane Warne admitted providing pitch and weather information to a bookie. Weather information from met office of Mr. Shane Warne ?????

Personally, I think from a purely moral standpoint, if spot-fixing ought to be illegal, then betting should altogether be illegal. One cannot expect a young man to remain virgin if a tempting prostitute lives next door. It's only a matter of time.

Looking back, if one had to bet on team going awry, it had to be none other than Pakistan. Their entire political, social, and economic situation brings the young man next to the prostitute's suite. where Australia's cricket board would have force their players to get involved in such situations, Pakistan cricket board would have force its' players not to engage in such activities. And no need to mention, the overall performance of the PCB.

Nonetheless, rules are rules. thought admittedly, I would be heartbroken to see Pakistan sink down the hole, I think it's best to have the country take an extensive holiday leave and rid itself of the cancer it has failed to eradicate simply because it has no value left.

From what the news had come out so far. How is it possible that the fixer, Majeed would not be charged but the players banned by ICC? What kind of law is that? Seems like the fixer, Majeed already knew the loophole in the British law and trapped these players. Although if found guilty the players should be punished, any calls for Pak cricket to be banned or life bans is ridiculous. Look around you, so many sports incidents happen, do they all get life bans? Especially in US (and in soccer), most of the players taking drugs litterally get away without any punishment. Lets apply the same principle for everyone regardless of race. Also are we to believe that fixing does not happen in other cricketing teams? The latest responses from Aussie players or IPL about being approached by bookies is ridiculous. Why in earth they did not tell the ACSU up until now, what were they waiting for? Michael Vaughan is just crazy, don't see him saying anything on S Broad on-field behaviors, what happened?

We have not seem or heard anything from the king of swing Wasim Akram, does he condone or condemn this match fixing ??

I believe you, Khusro. But, as so many people are saying ... this is the problem ... everything begins to look suspicious

In the end, Romantic will say to Pragmatist: "See they come out clean, may be not all but many". Good piece Jeh, as always. Thought provoking and kind. Let the cat come out of the bag. Stay put to Pakistan. Regards.

Maybe if folks like you quit betting on the game it would not be such a big problem. You cannot promote betting on one hand and then stand up and blaim the player who fall pray to your bookie friends.

Brilliant Jeh, meanwhile can anyone tell us if Majeed is a Pakistani or an Indian ??

thought provoking piece 'fox'. The saddest thing about all this is, maybe, financially, participating in this illegal activity is/was more profitable for the pakistani players. I'm reminded slightly of the rebel tours of South Africa in the 70s/80s where the players had to make a decision, perhaps against their own morals, to make sure their bank balance is in the black!

And speaking of "Holier Than Thou", people criticising Michael for betting, saying he's part of the problem, are quite pathetic I feel. Then surely we, the television viewers, are to blame for the big money involved in this and should take the blame for the IPL/Stanford and their money mishandling?
And for those who doubt my own motives, I never bet in my life.

This is but a microcosm of the larger cricketing establishment in a subcontinent where politicians and wealthy industrialists find it worthwhile to spend there precious time on cricket on an 'honorary' basis. The returns from this 'business' far outweigh risks.

Today it is Aamir & Asif. Tomorrow it will so some other impressionable kid or greedy cricketer. The moral fabric underpinning the game has unravelled.

all talented gaddarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Love this comment "One cannot expect a young man to remain virgin if a tempting prostitute lives next door. It's only a matter of time." The article is well written and makes you think, how many of the team were involved in it? It has to go further than just those 3 players.

What on earth possessed them to be so stupid? Money, greed? Or the promise of extra funds towards the relief effort?

Amir is the main problem, at 18 he's still a child, for them to have influenced one of Pakistan's brightest stars is not just saddening, to perhaps end his career when he has so much promise is sickening.

I have a question, is it wise to believe a very seasoned BOOKIE Mr.Mazhar accepting money in form of bulky notes in this technological era, where transfers of even 100 bucks is preferred through internet. Look at this experienced Mazhar grabbing thousands of notes in his only 2nd meeting with an unknown guy. Sounds ridiculous in itself.

This is interesting: http://www.cricinfo.com/england-v-pakistan-2010/content/current/story/475484.html
Per this article Essex suffered its own spot-fixing controversy when Danish Kaneria, and team-mate Mervyn Westfield were arrested and questioned over alleged spot-fixing during a game at the end of the 2009. Both players were bailed and Kaneria has continued to play for Essex this season, but Westfield has been released by the club.
Looks like no one is talking about the english player Westfield involved in spot-fixing? Nice excuse to blame this on Pak too, never seen any county game broadcast in Pak.
What are we to make of S Broad ball throw at Haider, no match suspension -perhaps Daddy's influence? Afridi swung his bat in SA in 2007 at a spectator after he said something to him, no umpires but ICC President suspended Afridi for 2 matches (4 incl warm-up games). I think unless ICC & Aussie/British players apply the same criteria to their players as for Pak, they shouldn't talk ab ban

I have supported Pakistan since 81, and IMO, Pakistan should be banned from all cricket for 2 years, no reason to point fingers at England, Australia and India, we all know in our hearts that Pakistan is the dirtiest team in Test cricket. And the tragedy is that Asif and Aamir are superb bowlers. I would put both of them in jail. And to do it during the Holy month of Ramadan is just unbelievable.

An interesting point raised that majeed could get away with everything and the 3 cricketers are banned? Let me put forward a conspiracy theory - the sydney test was not fixed pakistan lost due to incompetence of captiancy and batting. Another conspiracy theory mazhar was given 150k to take advantage of his closeness to the pak cricket team - knowing full well no bets would be placed and therefore he could not be charged. Why would the NOTW do this? Would it be payback time for the lashing the pakistan government gave cameron over his antics in india?

Why did the NOTW offer yasir hameed 25k plus citizenship to implicate the players? Why was he being blackmailed over drinking the wine and having been videoed? If the NOTW has enough access to hack senior politicans telephone lines what else can it do? Points worth thinking over me thinks.

TO ALL OF YOU SAYING CRAP ABOUT PAKISTANI PLAYERS, GO SPEND COUPLE OF YEARS IN THAT COUNTRY. WHEN YOU HAVE NO SUPPORT FROM THE GOVERNMENT, NO AMOUNT IS ENOUGH TO LIVE. ALSO CRICKET BOARDS ARE MAKING MILLIONS AND PLAYERS ARE NOT EVEN SURE WHAT IS GONA HAPPEN TO THEM AND THEIR FAMILY IF THEY GET INJURED. WHO IS GOING TO SUPPORT IF ONE OF THE FAMILY MEMBER IS SICK. THAT IS THE REASON WHY I LIKE BASKETBALL OR BASEBALL. PLAYERS MAKE MORE THAN THE OWNERS BECAUSE WITHOUT PLAYERS OWNERS HAVE NOTHING. PAKISTANI PLAYERS ARE NOT PLAYING IPL OR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. WHY? TO ME AMIR AND ASIF ARE SUPERSTARS AND THEY DESERVE TO TREATED LIKE ONE. IF NOT THEN THERE ARE WAYS. I WOULD BE PISSED IF A BOWLER WITH LESS TALENT MAKING WAY MORE MONEY THEN I AM. FIRST GET RID OF ALL THE INJUSTICE IN CRICKET WORLD AND THEN BLAIM THE PLAYERS.

Mohammad Asad from USA........

I do appreciate the comments from PAGALKHANA......Yeah 'the whole episode is turning into a circus'.

@Md. Asad and @pagalkhana; There are some issues that both of you seem to miss. There are two codes here; one is a ICC player code and the other one of criminal law (Scotland Yard). A player can be found guilty of either one or both. So even if a court of law does not charge them with a crime, the ICC code of conduct can still ban them to some length of time as determined by them. ICC cannot rule on criminal law and the Court will not rule on cricket conduct. Sometimes one can be found guilty by both, in which case the player will get a ban from the game and a jail term/fine etc. Criminal law always takes precedence. In this case, most experts seem to think that the criminal law will be harder to prove because of the higher standard of proof. Code violations generally use "preponderance of evidence" standard rather than "beyond all reasonable doubt". If it is just a cricket ban, these players can still pursue a different living, just not cricket.

Michael, I share in your pain and frustration at the flurry of allegations which is coming out of the english tabloid media. What I find utterly frustrating and unbelievale is the latest accusation of prefixed pattern of scoring in certain overs of the game.Common sense tells that for this to be true, there got to be involvement of players from both teams and even then that would be extremely difficult to arrange. What bothers me more is the sudden collapse of the english team.I think the ICC buffoons like Haroon Lorgat should look closely into that.Also, what needs to be investigated is the role being played by Sun and NOTW. I smell a rat in the whole affair and the claim by the Pak High Commissioner that the Pak team is being set up does not seem beyond the realm of possibility. Are Mazar Majeed and Mazar Mahmoud the key players or merely pawns being manipulated by some dark and powerful force in the background.by the way, I am not exonerating the Pak team of anything yet.

What a shame this bunch of looters and their agents have brought again to this country...it is an insult on our nation by these pathetic faces!!!

The indian controlled ICC is openly playing their dirty game, and every tom-dick and harry's criminal bookie phone call is now a lead into new investigations against our players, who are the best in the world....and the whole parliament and PCB sits and watch this nonsense that is crossing all limits....

We need to stop this insane plot in which, as our crooked leader Zardari, is his agent Ijaz butt, playing the pivotal role, by showing a pathetic face after every insult that the ICC is puttin on the face of our country, our players.....and our leaders are sitting and watching....

the indian controlled ICC, Ijaz butt and all the bookies involved need to be caught and put on trial in Pakistan....we need to stop this nonsense ....

coming from an experienced ball pyaler .you really need to watch the games and understand how the game is played .know all the rules and regulations and def. practice! if i were you i would start going to the batting cages every single day! i would get some friends together that know the game well and have them teach you i would buy all my baseball equiptment including batting gloves,mitts,bats,balls .if you have a local high school team nearby practice with them .i would start low level adult slow pitch softball and get a feel for the game, then work your way up to adult fast pitch baseball,then possibly semi pro,then if your good enough maybe even pro! all you need to do is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! oh and choose what kindof pyaler you want to be if you know names like Albert Pujols,Derek Jeter,Alex Rodriguez,Manny Ramirez,Torii Hunter,Chase Utley they all have set positions on the field in wich they play set your mind to being the best pyaler on the field and in a matter of years you could be good enough!