Michael Vaughan not pleased with ICC spot-fixing verdict
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has expressed his displeasure over the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision not to ban three Pakistani cricketers for life.
Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were suspended by the ICC following spot-fixing allegations against them. The trio tried to plead their innocence before the ICC’s tribunal in January, but the evidence proved otherwise.
The decision was delayed until 5th February and after a month-long wait, bans were handed down to the players.
Butt, Asif and Amir were banned for 10, 7 and 5 years respectively. However, Butt and Asif’s bans were suspended for five and two years, which means that they can return to cricket after a minimum of five years.
Vaughan stated that there should have been a zero-tolerance policy and once the players were found guilty, there shouldn’t have been any leniency shown to them. He further added, “That was what http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719, the ICC chief executive, and others have repeatedly
said since the scandal first broke, so I am very surprised they did not impose more severe punishments.”
Earlier, the ICC commissioner Sharad Rao stated, “You look at it (the decision) in light of the fact that it’s not match-fixing, it’s spot-fixing, which does not actually affect the results at all.”
However, Vaughan disagrees with Rao's statement and said that even bowling no-balls on purpose could change the results of the match. He said that the fans want the players to take wickets on every ball, so the bowlers cheated their nation and their fans
worldwide.
The former stylish batsman also said that the bans would mean that at least Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir would return to international cricket considering their current age. He said that this would not be a good message for the youngsters, who follow these
cricketers.
However, the ICC was satisfied with the decision, and Lorgat said that the verdict was given in light of the evidence presented to the tribunal.
There has been a mixed reaction from all over the world following the decision from the ICC. Some experts and former cricketers said that the decision was a harsh one whereas, others like Vaughan said that the ICC missed out on an opportunity to flush out
corruption from the game completely.
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