It’s just not cricket!
The most recent controversy surrounding cricket again besmirches the game’s name.
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| Yawar Saeed (r), Pakistan team’s manager, reads the newspaper containing allegations against Pakistani players as the team plays England at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London [AFP] |
The idiom “it’s not cricket” has come to mean someone doing something that is not right and suggests that cricket is somehow unique.
But the fact is that cricket has had its share of controversies, enough to take the shine off the “unique” appeal.
Here are some reactions to the arrest of a man in the UK on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers following reports of match-fixing in the just concluded cricket match between England and Pakistan.
| Michael Vaughan, former England captain on social networking site Twitter |
“Anger is my thought at the moment. I don’t see how they can get out of this one … it’s just a great shame why this has to happen. Very sad.”
| Imran Khan, ex-Pakistan cricket captain |
“I think there is a need to send out a message to youngsters … that crime does not pay.
“I myself have come to know about these allegations against our players from the media. I hope they are not true but if any player is found guilty he should be made an example for future generations of Pakistani cricketers.”
| Allan Lamb, former England batsman |
“If any player is caught, they’ve got to be life banned… Cricket has to go on, it can’t just stop – we’ve got to get rid of the people involved, life ban them, and the game has to go on.”
| Nasser Hussain, ex-England captain |
“Part of me says you’ve got to make a statement, and say: ‘Right, ban for life’. If you come down tough maybe it says to everyone, ‘Don’t get involved, that’s the end of your career’. “But another part of me says, ‘Should you give a person another chance?'”
| Richie Benaud, former Australia captain |
“Sadly the people who now taint a great sport have become far more sophisticated in their ability to make dirty money out of the game… The ICC [International Cricket Council] and the administrators in various countries must act fast, otherwise cricket is at real peril.”
| Iqbal Mohammad Ali, chairman of the sports committee of the Pakistan National Assembly |
“Enough is enough. Players have stained Pakistan’s image. All those who are found guilty must be banned for life.”
| Iqbal Qasim, former Pakistan player and chief selector |
“Pakistan cricket has seen every possible mishap, but allegations of spot-fixing is one of the greatest mishaps and it remains to be seen how our cricket comes out of it.”
| Sarfraz Nawaz, former Pakistan player |
“The news is shocking and a great mishap … As far as I know, players have been accused of fancy fixing, to bowl no-balls so they all must be investigated seriously and then strict action must be taken against those who are proved guilty.”
| Mohammad Ali Shah, sports minister of Pakistan’s Sindh province |
“It was because of the players’ power that exists in Pakistan cricket that the PCB did not take action against the alleged players and the situation has come to a head in England.”
| Ehsan Mani, former ICC President |
“It has come as an absolute shock to me. I don’t know how this could happen. What was the Pakistan team management doing?
“I also blame the ICC anti-corruption unit, when a newspaper could uncover all this what was the unit doing, it is a shame for cricket.”