Ijaz Butt must go © Getty Images

Command and control are the golden rules of handling any crisis because you can only be in control if you have command of the situation. Sadly, this summer’s spot-fixing controversy has once again revealed that too many cricket administrators, past and present players, and journalists are far from in command once the heat is on anything more complicated than the execution of a forward defensive.

Controversy has dogged each and every Pakistan tour of England for almost three decades. The reasons are complex but dominated by the weaknesses in Pakistan’s cricketing structure, a desire not to be walked over, and rabid suspicion of any Pakistani conduct by an unhealthy proportion of the English media.

To be clear, the video evidence concerning the Lord’s Test was alarming and action was required. It was a shame that the reluctance of the Pakistan board to suspend its three players forced the ICC to take action, which it was right to do. But that doesn’t excuse the events that have unfolded in the aftermath, as the crisis has exposed the failings of institutions and individuals across the globe.

1 The ICC initially responded well but the surprise of the News of the World allegations left everybody wondering what the ICC’s anti-corruption unit has been doing for a decade? Is it credible that an investigative journalist is more skilled and resourceful than an international unit?

When the ICC followed up by questioning the integrity of the third ODI and twenty-two cricketers without releasing any meaningful evidence, the impression was of an organisation out of its depth. Reform of the ICC is necessary and must be a top priority. A game governed by an organisation weaker than its members will always flounder.

Without urgent change the ICC will continue to lose its command of international cricket. The member boards must vote for a stronger ICC executive with greater powers. Yes, these turkeys must vote for Christmas.

2 Enough has been said about the PCB already but a key point is that the PCB’s unprofessionalism and weakness in governing its own players and sport makes Pakistan cricket an easy target for corruption, manipulation, and condemnation.

The PCB may not change until the Pakistan government changes, or somebody in a position of power acquires a conscience, but surely the ICC should be demanding minimum standards from its member boards. Unfortunately, when the ICC itself is a dysfunctional organisation, imposing any minimum standards on its members is wishful thinking.

Pakistan cricket must put its house in order and that is impossible with Ijaz Butt ruling the roost. He must go.

3 Michael Atherton surmised that Ijaz Butt is a clown and should be ignored. Butt’s ill-conceived rant against England’s cricketers was unbecoming of the chairman of a national cricket board. If Butt had evidence he should have handed it to the ICC for action, not blurted it out to the national and international media.

Yet Butt is in the company of distinguished clowns. Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan have called for Pakistan to be banned, a whole nation banished for unproven accusations against a handful of cricketers and the bleating of a known blusterer. Botham has history with Pakistan, history that diminishes his great deeds on the cricket pitch. Cricketing ability, we know, is no proxy for logical thinking or fair-mindedness.

While Botham is shameless in his attitude towards Pakistan, and his rant as equally unexpected as one from Butt, Vaughan should be ashamed, a reputation as a cerebral cricketer dashed in a moment of hyperbole. If Butt is a clown then Botham and Vaughan have joined his caravan of clowns. Fortunately the ECB has steered a sensible course through this crisis and ensured that shrill voices were ignored and the series played out to a conclusion.

All the clowns, not just Butt, are best ignored.

4 Despite the summer scandal, a decent proportion of the English media has remained considered in its approach to the crisis and supportive of the plight of Pakistan cricket. It is even wrong to suggest that the News of the World might have some vendetta against Pakistan cricket.

I believe that if it had discovered similar evidence against English cricketers it would have launched into the scandal with equal relish. That is how this newspaper goes about its business. Nonetheless, the usual suspects in the tabloid press have used the crisis to declare open season on Pakistan’s players, calling for the expulsion of Pakistan cricket from the ICC and attempting to dig up any dirt that they can grasp.

Sensationalism is part of their agenda, and just like Botham they have a history of conflict with Pakistan cricket. Would these voices attack a nation’s sport with such venom if that nation were India or South Africa, for example? Of course not, Pakistan cricket is an easy target, a product of a misunderstood nation crippled by atrocious governance. Where Mr Butt and his players failed is that they provided so much ammunition that they became a tabloid dream.

A summer that offered rehabilitation has ended in recrimination. A caravan of clowns rushed through a desert of integrity, passing an occasional oasis of sparkling cricket. It left heads spinning and hearts broken.

We can’t expect players and ex-players to be masters of logic. We can’t expect the media to give a sucker an even break. We can, however, expect a sport to be governed properly. Cricket can be healed but not without reform of the ICC and failing national boards like Pakistan’s.

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Shoaib Akhtar in action at Lord's on Monday © PA Photos

Lord’s wasn’t full but it was resplendent. A healthy crowd enjoyed a perfect late summer’s evening, by the end of which you might have been excused for forgetting that international cricket was on the brink of calamity. Sensible heads in the ECB ensured that the fourth one-day international between England and Pakistan took place despite a unilateral attack by Pakistan’s bumbling chairman, Mr Ijaz Butt.

Nerves were fraught following a night of anger in the England camp and bewilderment in Pakistan’s. The tension even spilled over into a pre-match clash between Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz, and it was still etched on the furrowed brow of Andrew Strauss at the post-match press conference and the perspiring forehead of Pakistan’s coach Waqar Younis.

Waqar, it seems, has become Pakistan’s one-man crisis management team. I’m not sure these delicate media situations come naturally to him but he has done admirably enough in fending off hostile questions, at least attempting to focus on cricket instead of fanning the flames of controversy. He described England as a great venue to tour and relations between the teams as superb. Although the latter statement might have been stretching the bounds of credulity, Waqar has always had affection for cricket in England despite the controversies.

He believes his squad composed of the young and the recalled deserves praise for its spirited performances in the one-day series, especially in light of the storm swirling around them and friendly fire striking amidships.

This series, however, is unlikely to be remembered for its cricket unless in relation to allegations of fixing of some variety. The 22 players made a noble attempt to reconnect supporters with the fascination of a hard-fought contest—and the crowd responded. The surreal mood of the morning was replaced by an uncharacteristic buzz of excitement at Lord's as England chased victory under lights.

For what it’s worth Pakistan have begun to excel again at defending a competitive total. With Shoaib Akhtar leading the line and Umar Gul smashing stumps, the last two internationals have been a throwback to the way Pakistan used to go about their business more than a decade ago. Even Razzaq’s blitzkrieg in the last two overs was an echo of past adventures.

There was also fight here from Shahid Afridi’s boys, a determination to show the world what they can do. How long it lasts is anybody’s guess but Pakistan have the momentum going into the final match of the series. England, meanwhile, were shell shocked, first by Butt’s unbecoming accusations and then by the passion of Pakistan’s fightback.

Yet all the players, English and Pakistani, must take credit for playing out an enthralling contest in probably the most controversial environment in the history of one-day internationals. By the finish there was renewed hope that the spirit of cricket lives on. The fumblings of the ICC and the damage caused by Pakistan’s cricket chairman might yet be contained. Pakistan’s players celebrated victory as if they had won back their souls from the devil.

The evening at Lord’s was a reminder that the fascination of cricket lies in the battle between national heroes and the interplay of that intense contest with the emotions of an enthusiastic crowd. These magic ingredients will live on when the mistakes of the ICC and the stupidity of Mr Butt are consigned to the landfill of history. Match-fixing allegations in their various guises may be harder to shake. After all, they began on English fields in cricket’s earliest days.

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No more political posturing; it is time to clean up Pakistan cricket © AFP

Omar Kurieshi, Pakistan's great writer and broadcaster, once sent me on a mission. It was in my early days of cricket writing, and he had recruited me for Sportsweek, his new publication. I was sent to talk to Wasim Akram, possibly the greatest left-arm pacemen of them all and a man besieged by match-fixing allegations. Kurieshi wanted to help him, rescue Pakistan's champion from the baying hounds with the smell of blood in their nostrils. I met Wasim, looked him in the eye, and asked him whether the allegations were true or not. The master of reverse swing was quick to reassure me of his innocence.

The point of this anecdote is not to question Wasim's integrity, it is to highlight a human trait that is not peculiarly Pakistani but has become a common feature of Pakistan's response to match-fixing or spot-fixing allegations. It is simply this: each allegation is seen as a conspiracy or attack on Pakistan, an attack that has to be repulsed at all costs, instead of a red alert about corruption.

These posturings are wearisome but they have now turned outrageous with Ijaz Butt's misfiring accusations against England's cricketers. I don't know which players from which teams are involved in fixing performances and results; only the players and the bookmakers know for sure. I do know that serious match-fixing allegations have surrounded international cricket for many decades.

But the strongest evidence I have ever come across was unearthed by the Indian authorities when they caught Hansie Cronje and others. The most shocking information I have ever seen about Pakistan cricket was released in the recent sting by the News of the World. It had taken a decade to restore much of the faith in the integrity of cricket that was lost last time around, only for it to be shattered by a few minutes of Internet video. I worry about transcripts, recordings, and marked notes but I care little for idle conjecture about slow-scoring, accelerations and decelerations at will; wins and losses at a whim.

I want resolution. I want corruption out of cricket more than I want to save the career of any corrupt cricketer; an attitude that anybody who cares for this great sport must share. I don't want the head of Pakistan's cricket board to put political posturing before establishing the truth surrounding these allegations. I don't want him to accuse another country's cricketers of throwing matches, especially a country that has lent a dime in a summer of need. Instead, I want him to clean up Pakistan cricket.

I want resolution from ICC too. I want the game's ruling body to be a worthy custodian, championing the best in this sport and eradicating corruption. I don't want the ICC to lie dormant until it is roused by media scoops, second to every scandal. I don't want the ICC to pretend that corruption is only skin deep and confined to a single country. I want the ICC to be an organisation that uses power with responsibility and creates a thriving sport full of integrity.

I know these are false hopes in desperate times. The last few days have seen two calamitous acts. First is the inexcusable announcement by ICC that the ODI at The Oval is under investigation, an announcement that left both cricket boards uninformed and 22 players under suspicion. Second is the unfitting attack by Butt on other players and cricket organisations. These harmful instances suggest that the ICC and the PCB have lost control of the crisis and are about to embark on a calamitous confrontation.

I know in my heart that it is probably best for this dread tour to finish now and save us further pain. Yet I also know that I will wend my way to Lord's in the hope that I might see a final stand from Pakistan cricket to defy its critics and to prove its honesty. I will contemplate the value of commenting on performances that may or may not be genuine. I will think back to the boy who once believed that cricket was a proud battle of skill, will, and bravery. I will imagine a time when cricket is again free of the obscenity of corruption. I will watch Shahid Afridi's men perform at the home of cricket, every cricketer's dream, and imagine what Pakistan cricket might have been.

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With some new faces, like Mohammad Irfan, can Shahid Afridi and his band of tortured men demonstrate the real power of cricket? © Getty Images

Four months ago Pakistan were the most feared team in Twenty20 cricket. Four days ago they were dreadful. This is a dead tour walking and it is up to Shahid Afridi's team to bring it back to life. A summer that began with hope and ambition is ending in total disaster. A demoralised team is playing before numb supporters. If Pakistan's remaining players have clear consciences they need to show the world that their country has the pride and heart to face down the many challenges it faces.

As the saying goes, a fish rots from the head, and Pakistan cricket will not halt its death slide until the head of the cricket board is replaced. Yet Ijaz Butt appears as secure as ever, safe in his friendship with the President of Pakistan. We would all love to know the precise nature of the debt that Zardari owes Butt, beyond personal connections, because Butt's has been the most disastrous regime in the history of Pakistan cricket.

The world is powerless to break Butt's spell over Zardari. This sense of powerlessness complicates the grief that Pakistan supporters are currently experiencing. My impression is that Pakistan fans have been through a stage of denial and are hovering between anger and sadness, with the final stage of grief being acceptance. The current Pakistan players and management, assuming their innocence, must be cycling through similar stages.

I have reached a mood of sadness about the spot-fixing affair. I watched my first live Pakistan match 35 years ago, and have commented on Pakistan cricket for 15 years. In all those hours and days of my life lost to cricket, in all the million or so words I must have written about the team that once wore the green and gold with pride, I have never felt so disenchanted. Pakistan cricket has suffered every conceivable scandal yet this cut feels the deepest. Why?

I'm not quite sure what the answer is but I guess there are many factors that contribute to my malaise. This tour was billed as a lifeline for Pakistan cricket, a route to revenue and rejuvenation. The new-look team was supposed to offer a clean break from the past, boasting a bowling attack to rival any on the planet. Passionate support would fill stadiums and create an unforgettable spectacle.

We had glimpses of that dream but now we live a nightmare. Pakistan has been troubled by match-fixing allegations before but today's circumstances are the most perturbing. The Qayyum inquiry of a decade ago was unsatisfactory for many reasons, one of which was its failure to produce any compelling evidence for public consumption. The current crisis may not result in a criminal prosecution, and the ICC inquiry has still not reached a conclusion, but the recent allegations have shattered the confidence that fans have in their team.

Last time around we were still unsure of what really happened but this time the videos and the transcripts are difficult to dislodge from our minds. They may not prove guilt but they have shaken our belief in the integrity of the sport. All this on the backdrop of a crippling war and murderous floods.

Ultimately, though, this melancholy might be explained by the powerlessness to oust the people who many supporters believe have failed in their duty to preserve the integrity and the reputation of Pakistan cricket; people who should have kept agents from the team's door, selected wisely, and guided their young charges with greater responsibility.

The players may change by the day, one disaster might be outdone by a different calamity from one week to the next, but the cricket board and the team management are constants, unwilling to take any responsibility for supervising Pakistan cricket to intensive care.

The head of this fish is rotten, as is its bloated body. The players form the tail of this once vibrant, now monstrous creature, and it is the healthy parts of the tail that must wag this beast back to life. They should be boosted by two new additions in Asad Shafiq, a highly rated middle-order batsman, and Mohammad Irfan, the new Big Bird of international cricket. With Shoaib Akhtar and Afridi in the mix, even in its death throes, Pakistan cricket offers a twitch of fascination.

Now Afridi's players have acquired the greatest responsibility in the history of Pakistan cricket: the responsibility to save Pakistan cricket from the recklessness of their colleagues and the negligence of all the President's men. Sport can replace misery with joy but this is a deep melancholy and the most desperate of times. Can Boom Boom and his band of tortured men demonstrate the real power of cricket?

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The three won't be playing any further part on the England tour © Getty Images

Now they have been left out. Ijaz Butt rushed out a statement that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, and Mohammad Amir will not be suspended unless they are proven guilty. I believe he was wrong and the decision to withdraw them from the limited-overs series is the correct one. The last week has been such a traumatic one for Pakistan cricket that there are many compelling reasons for the decision.

The central question that any administrator, player, or supporter has to answer is what is best for Pakistan cricket? Is it a show of defiance that refuses to agree to any sanction against Pakistan's players using the age-old right of innocence until proven guilty? Or is it a firm stance against any misconduct or corruption in the name of Pakistan cricket? It has to be the latter and here are my reasons:

1 The spectre of match-fixing and spot-fixing has never left Pakistan cricket. The Qayyum inquiry of a decade ago was a compromise, an exercise in punishing some offenders but fearful of damaging the prospects of the national team. The compromise failed. Pakistan cricket declined since the end of the 1990s. The players who were fined but not banned have struggled to shake the odour of misconduct. Their ongoing association with Pakistan cricket is an easy target for conspiracy theorists every time a controversy arises. Importantly, the match-fixing scandal didn't end with the Qayyum inquiry but limped on.

2 The two most important lessons from the Qayyum inquiry are that no player should be above the law, and that clear, decisive judgements and action are required.

3 In these circumstances when your players and country are being accused it is understandable that many people automatically leap to the defence of their countrymen who are under suspicion. It is right to seek and ensure justice for your fellows but not at the expense of achieving the correct judgement. The PCB should be guardians of Pakistan cricket and its integrity and not blind advocates of the players.

4 As such, the PCB's prime motivation should be to get at the truth of what has happened. While there might not be sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution to succeed under British jurisprudence there is clearly a case to answer for some of Pakistan's players based on this week's revelations. Anybody who cares for Pakistan cricket will want to know whether players have sold their team, their fans, and their country.

5 While answers are sought it makes sense to withdraw the concerned players from the touring party. This does not mean that they are guilty but it is best for them to be withdrawn from the media spotlight at this moment. International cricket is a tough enough arena without having to cope with such damaging allegations. The PCB should even consider sending out a whole new touring party and management not involved in the England Test series to underline its commitment to the integrity of the sport.

6 Sport is of no value without spectators, and unless spectators can trust that they are viewing a fair contest they will walk away. The greatest damage done by this scandal is the potential insult to paying spectators. The limited overs series now has a chance of succeeding and rebuilding everybody's confidence in the integrity of these encounters.

7 Corruption in sport is not new. Pakistan is not the only country to be tainted by match-fixing accusations, it is a scandal that affects all cricket-playing nations. But that argument should not be used as a pretext to avoid putting your own house in order. Match-fixing is an international issue and if it is in Pakistan cricket then everything that can be done to eradicate this monster from its realm must be done.

8 It would be much better for any of the players to return to international cricket with their names cleared rather than play on under a cloud. Even a player who has committed a less serious offence will find it easier to be rehabilitated once any charge has been properly addressed and any punishment served. For players who may have fixed the outcome of matches, the punishment should be life bans. Less serious offences can carry alternative punishments under the ICC code.

9 The PCB has shown it is quick to hand out bans and fines without even a proper explanation of why. Hence it seems ironic that Mr Butt was so quick to rule out any sanction on this occasion and has invoked the cry of 'innocent until proven guilty' whereas on the last occasion the verdict was 'guilty until proven innocent.' Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan, in particular, have suffered as a result. Here we have legitimate cause for concern, if not punishment, which is why a judicious withdrawal of the players is entirely justifiable and feasible.

10 I don't believe the tour should be stopped but the stench of corruption must be removed from it. This might be harsh on a group of Pakistan players who turn out to be innocent but their withdrawal, without any acceptance of guilt at this stage, is best for the integrity of Pakistan cricket and the spirit of the game. The PCB needs to make decisions on the basis of building a strong, clean team to represent the country and not become mired in brinkmanship or petty politics.

Unfortunately, too many supporters have lost faith in the motivations of too many players. They have no confidence in the decision making of the cricket board. They have no expectation that Pakistani politicians will be able to change the cricket board. Of course, fans have never really had much faith in administrators or politicians. But once trust in players begins to be shattered then fans become disillusioned and walk away. For that reason alone, the decision to withdraw the three players for the rest of the tour is the correct one.

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