CRICKET – Still a Gentlemen Game?

Cricket – a game considered to be a religion among the people from Asian countries. It is the only sport that brings abundant economy to the country every time especially in African and Asian countries, though once it was said as English men game. But now lot of dirt emerging from it in the form of match fixing and the shocking news is the young talents being involved in it just for money. The recent spot-fixing scam involving Asif, Aameer, Butt brings the question about the gentility of game. Initially seven pakistan players were said to be involved in match fixing against Australia and as of now only the action has been taken against the players involving this dirty activity against England. The three cricketers (Asif, Aameer, Butt) became the first players to be suspended under new ICC rules intended to protect the integrity of the game. ICC chief executive, Lorgat said “We will not tolerate corruption in cricket - simple as that. We must be decisive with such matters and if proven, these offences carry serious penalties up to a life ban. The ICC will do everything possible to keep such conduct out of the game and we will stop at nothing to protect the sport’s integrity.” The anti-corruption unit was set up in 2001, in response to the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal, as a means of establishing and publicizing very specific anti-corruption and security measures for players, support staff and administrators and the players will be enquired by this team.

The money is believed to have been part of 150,000 pounds handed over by an undercover reporter to the alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed. The cash, given to Majeed for fixing three no-balls of the Lord's Test between Pakistan and Engalnd, is understood to have been secretly marked so that it could be later identified by police. Early indications suggest the money found in possession of Butt originated from the sting. There are good reasons to believe this was the case. Master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar expressed that ICC should take action against guilty players. He also added that if the allegations are true, they will certainly bring disrepute to the game. As latest information, Salman Butt, Mohammed Aamir and Mohammed Asif have told the investigators that they took money from alleged bookie Mazhar Majeed but denied any wrongdoing. Let’s wait and watch what’s more happened and who else involved in it. However it hurt millions of hearts of cricket freaks.