The never-ending saga of the troubled England vs. Pakistan cricket series
A lot of cricket sports fans are waiting for the controversy-marred cricket series between Pakistan and England to end. Every day media reports bring new problems and issues that tarnish the game even further. First it was the devastating spot-fixing scandal
that saw three Pakistani players sent home, and then there was the latest case of strange scoring patterns in the third ODI that brought the spotlight back to this tainted series. Now it seems that the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board has said that England
was paid a huge sum of money to lose the third ODI match. This bombshell was followed by an angry captain Shahid Afridi, saying that Jonathan Trott should have faced police action after an altercation with Wahab Riaz recently. Hopefully this series will end
soon, and the world of cricket will breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Ijaz Butt was a former cricket player who played in eight test matches for Pakistan in his youth. On the 6th of October 2008, Ijaz Butt was made the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board by the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari. Numerous
cricket fans and even some former players criticised the decision and have vehemently objected to Butt’s leadership. His record has been up and down because since 2008 the Pakistani team has won only a few high-profile matches and the entire 2-year period
has seen the team l*****g its wounds. He has recently come under serious fire for his handling of the recent controversy that continues to hound the current series in England. A lot of commentators and the sports media claimed that the chairman was slow to
react to the controversy, and seemed to be caught napping when allegations of match fixing and corruption were going on under his nose. He cemented his strange attitude to the whole dodgy affair, when he recently stated that there was talk amongst bookie circles
that England had been paid huge sums of money to lose the third ODI, the only match the Pakistan team had won in the one-day series so far. It was not a great way to inspire confidence in his players by saying the only way Pakistan was able to win was because
England had taken money to lose. There were angry reactions from the England Cricket Board and the captain of the team who threatened to take Butt to court for his comments.
Sometime after this new ugly incident, Shahid Afridi came to the forefront with claims that he could have had English player Jonathan Trott arrested for an altercation he had with Pakistani bowler Wahab Riaz. Riaz was one of the players under investigation
by police and the ICC for alleged spot-fixing claims. The incident that took place whenTrott came up to Riaz in the nets and an argument ensued with Trott grabbing Riaz by the throat and calling him a match-fixer. Even though the match referee called on both
players and Trott apologised for his actions, Afridi sparked the flames of the issue again by saying that the incident could have resulted in an arrest.
The problem for the Pakistan team at the moment seems to be one of public relations. If a qualified PR company was handling the affairs and statements of the team, these sorts of remarks and incidents could be minimised. In a critical time such as this,
both teams need to be very careful about what they say and how they conduct themselves. If all statements had been first vetted by a professional PR firm, the situation might not have gotten this bad to begin with.
Hopefully soon the series will be over and the Pakistan team will be back home trying to salvage what they can of their reputation and try to clear their names off from any wrong-doings. England will be reeling from the tainted series and will probably take
some time off to recover as well. In a few weeks, this matter might be resolved and cricket can get back on to its feet once again.
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