England vs Pakistan ODIs clouded by controversy
The storm clouds that gathered over Lord’s on the opening day of the Test between England and Pakistan at Lord’s last Thursday are nothing compared to those already hovering over the teams’ forthcoming ODI series.
Rain put a dampener on the first day of play at the home of cricket, but it was allegations of spot-fixing, revolving around three deliberate no-balls bowled against England during that match, published in the News of the World on the weekend that have created a storm far more damaging than England’s skies could muster last week.
Implicated in the betting scandal by the paper were Pakistan pace duo Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, Test captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, along with middle man, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mazhar-c75448 Majeed, who, the paper claims met undercover reporters posing as members of a gambling cartel and accepted £150,000, allegedly in return for the two Pakistan fast bowlers to bowl no-balls at predetermined stages of in the match.
Majeed was arrested on Saturday as police investigated the claims arising from the story, but was bailed without charge on Sunday night, while the four players in question have all given statements to police, with players’ mobile phones seized as part of the investigations.
While each player implicated in the scandal by News of the World is innocent until proven guilty, the corruption controversy is set to overshadow September’s limited overs matches between the two teams, which appear certain to proceed amid controversy.
"It's the desire of the ICC England and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 that the series should continue,” Sharad Pawar, the ICC president, has said.
Pakistan certainly seem intent on continuing the series, with Pakistan manager, Yawar Saeed, stating on Sunday that “as far as I'm concerned the one-day series is on,” and the team bus earlier today setting off to Taunton for Thursday’s practice match against Somerset. But there’s no doubt this has become a series in need of damage control.
Winning back credibility with cricket fans – including those who were yesterday filmed throwing tomatoes at the Pakistan team bus – will be easier said than done.
Leaving out Amir, Asif, Butt and Kamran for Pakistan’s remaining matches in England would potentially be one way of doing so. But while they are all subject to the allegations, to punish them now without a full investigation into the veracity of each player’s involvement in the spot-fixing scam is surely not the ideal course of action.
The show, at least at this stage, seems set to go on – though who knows what the next few days may bring – but as the spot-fixing controversy rages, it’s hard to see too many cricket fans getting excited about that fact.
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