Just when you think it could not have got any worse

Cheating qunt returns to cricket (from today's Telegraph)

Mohammad Amir, the convicted spot-fixer, has been cleared for an early return to domestic cricket in Pakistan by the International Cricket Council.


Amir, 22, was jailed and banned from the sport for five years for his part in a spot-fixing scandal during his country's 2010 tour of England.


The prodigiously talented seam bowler, who delivered pre-arranged no-balls at Lord's as part of a plot involving Mohammad Asif and their captain Salman Butt, was not due to play again until Sept 5.


But after a meeting of the ICC Board in Dubai, it has been announced that the governing body, the PSCB, and anti-corruption chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan had approved his domestic availability with immediate effect.


With Pakistan's first-class season already at an end and the limited-overs President's Cup finishing early next month, Amir may have to wait some time for his first competitive cricket.


But the end of his ban allows him to make a full return to training and net practice, possibly overseen by the PCB, and even club cricket should the opportunity arise.

It also increases his prospects of an international recall against England, of all teams.

They take on Pakistan in a three-format tour of the United Arab Emirates in October, leaving Amir plenty of time to prove himself ready for selection.

Quite how that would go down with the likes of Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Eoin Morgan and Steven Finn - current England players who were on duty in that fateful Lord's Test - remains to be seen.

There is also a question mark over Amir's status within the Pakistan dressing room.

While the PCB have lobbied hard for his early return and clearly expect him to make a full comeback at the highest level, players who have performed cleanly in the shadow of his indiscretions and those of others, may be less inclined to share the field with Amir.

The issue is unlikely to disappear quietly.

Should Amir locate anything close to the form that made him the youngest bowler to take 50 Test wickets, he will be back centre stage soon enough and with the possibility of at least a decade of international cricket in front of him.

ban pakistan

Surely even the PCB has more sense than that.

Quality bowler. Such a shame he succumbed to the temptation of corruption.

Meh, he's served his punishment. He now needs to be given another chance. Unlike Butt and Asif, he admitted his guilt early on, and vowed to rehabilitate himself. Let's not forget he was only an 18 year old kid likely under pressure from Butt to go through with things.

I wish him well.

trev knows a lot about Butt pressure

we should listen to him

as long as he doesnt play before 5 years I dont have a problem with him training

an immediate life ban for a whiff of re-offending would be good too

Henry wrote:Meh, he's served his punishment. He now needs to be given another chance. Unlike Butt and Asif, he admitted his guilt early on, and vowed to rehabilitate himself. Let's not forget he was only an 18 year old kid likely under pressure from Butt to go through with things.

I wish him well.

Yeah, think the punishment was about right in his case (though should have been extended for playing as a ringer in English club cricket).

He's lost a third of his career, was clearly influenced by senior players as a youngster and now still has the chance to fulfil his potential if he can stay out of trouble.

Hope we don't see ringleader Butthead or serial troublemaker Asif back in the international game though.

Keep him off the field and away from International cricket - period.
He KNEW exactly what he was doing and took coin for it.
He's a farking cheat - no matter how you disguise it.
Enforce his total ban from the game and let it be a deterrent to others.

Merlin wrote:Keep him off the field and away from International cricket - period.
He KNEW exactly what he was doing and took coin for it.
He's a farking cheat - no matter how you disguise it.
Enforce his total ban from the game and let it be a deterrent to others.

Agreed. Fixing is fixing. Life ban should be the minimum sentence.

taipan wrote:

Merlin wrote:Keep him off the field and away from International cricket - period.
He KNEW exactly what he was doing and took coin for it.
He's a farking cheat - no matter how you disguise it.
Enforce his total ban from the game and let it be a deterrent to others.

Agreed. Fixing is fixing. Life ban should be the minimum sentence.

So what's the maximum penalty then? Death?

Henry wrote:

taipan wrote:

Merlin wrote:Keep him off the field and away from International cricket - period.
He KNEW exactly what he was doing and took coin for it.
He's a farking cheat - no matter how you disguise it.
Enforce his total ban from the game and let it be a deterrent to others.

Agreed. Fixing is fixing. Life ban should be the minimum sentence.

So what's the maximum penalty then? Death?

Wait until I get started on chuckers.

Henry wrote:

So what's the maximum penalty then? Death?

Nope.
That's for murder, terrorism and the like.

Just a life ban for the cheater.

Henry wrote:

taipan wrote:

Merlin wrote:Keep him off the field and away from International cricket - period.
He KNEW exactly what he was doing and took coin for it.
He's a farking cheat - no matter how you disguise it.
Enforce his total ban from the game and let it be a deterrent to others.

Agreed. Fixing is fixing. Life ban should be the minimum sentence.

So what's the maximum penalty then? Death?

deaths too good for them

Geez. rapists and murderers merely get jailed for 10+ years, but heaven forbid a cricketer DELIBERATELY bowls a no ball in a cricket match!!!!

Perspective people. He was a kid who did a foolish, naive thing. He's realised his mistake, been punished for it, and now it's time for him to get on with his life again.

Henry wrote:Geez. rapists and murderers merely get jailed for 10+ years, but heaven forbid a cricketer DELIBERATELY bowls a no ball in a cricket match!!!!

Perspective people. He was a kid who did a foolish, naive thing. He's realised his mistake, been punished for it, and now it's time for him to get on with his life again.

Prove it.

Refer to Lance Armstrong's recent interview ..... "Would you cheat again?"
His answer ... "Yes".

Merlin wrote:

Henry wrote:Geez. rapists and murderers merely get jailed for 10+ years, but heaven forbid a cricketer DELIBERATELY bowls a no ball in a cricket match!!!!

Perspective people. He was a kid who did a foolish, naive thing. He's realised his mistake, been punished for it, and now it's time for him to get on with his life again.

Prove it.

Refer to Lance Armstrong's recent interview  ..... "Would you cheat again?"
His answer ... "Yes".

The only way for HIM to prove it is to play cricket again and not do that again!

Ethics? The Gall! wrote:

Henry wrote:

taipan wrote:

Merlin wrote:Keep him off the field and away from International cricket - period.
He KNEW exactly what he was doing and took coin for it.
He's a farking cheat - no matter how you disguise it.
Enforce his total ban from the game and let it be a deterrent to others.

Agreed. Fixing is fixing. Life ban should be the minimum sentence.

So what's the maximum penalty then? Death?

deaths too good for them

Should have had his hand cut off so he couldn't cheat again.

Henry wrote:

Merlin wrote:

Henry wrote:Geez. rapists and murderers merely get jailed for 10+ years, but heaven forbid a cricketer DELIBERATELY bowls a no ball in a cricket match!!!!

Perspective people. He was a kid who did a foolish, naive thing. He's realised his mistake, been punished for it, and now it's time for him to get on with his life again.

Prove it.

Refer to Lance Armstrong's recent interview  ..... "Would you cheat again?"
His answer ... "Yes".

The only way for HIM to prove it is to play cricket again and not do that again!

Come on Trev. You know he'll do it again.

Henry wrote:

The only way for HIM to prove it is to play cricket again and not do that again!

So, if it's up to him ....... why take a chance?

Merlin wrote:

Henry wrote:

The only way for HIM to prove it is to play cricket again and not do that again!

So, if it's up to him ....... why take a chance?

Look at his face. You can see he is a serial offender.

Merlin wrote:

Henry wrote:

The only way for HIM to prove it is to play cricket again and not do that again!

So, if it's up to him ....... why take a chance?

Because it' not a bad thing to show some compassion from time to time? I generally prefer giving people the benefit of the doubt. (Except Australian cricketers...the qunts)

Henry wrote: I generally prefer giving people the benefit of the doubt. (Except Australian cricketers...the qunts)

Now you're talking ....

He was 18 and has served his time. Lance Armstrong comparison doesn't stand up, Lance took drugs in order to maximise his performance.

I imagine when the idea was sold to Amir it was done in a "It's just a no ball, it won't have any effect on the outcome of the match and it's not a big deal". I.E. he was young and manipulated.

If he does it again then ban him for life but he deserves a second chance and I don't think he would do it again.

Pakistan's miscreants ...

Shahid Afridi ... the 25 (or is he 46) year old ... grinding his spikes into the wicket whilst
the exploding gas canister created a distraction...if it wasn't for the TV cameras .... and

Saleem Malik ...and
Ata-ur-Rehman ...and
Mohammad Asif ...and
Mohammad Amir...and
Salman Butt ...and
Danish Kaneria ...and
Naved Arif ...
.... and let's not forget the worst offender of the lot ...Shakoor Rama ...

Oh, I almost forgot ... the infamous Oval incident when the entire Pakistan team
"failed to return" to the middle and the game was awarded to England.

Not to put too fine a point on it ... they are serial offenders.

Re-Offend ?
I'd be astonished if Amir didn't.
Of course, by then it would be too late to say "I told you so".

It's nothing like Lance Armstrong, who not only cheated himself but was the ringleader in bullying many young cyclists into risking their lives with drugs/transfusions etc. on a daily basis (while proudly advertising the fact he was saving lives with his charity work). Just wish the qunt would be exposed as having doped in his comeback, then he could be caught by the perjury laws and be behind bars where he belongs.

In terms of fixing, the captains and ringleaders need to get the life bans, the impressionable kids who were caught up in it deserve another chance (eventually). They do need to keep an eye on it and ban Pakistan completely for a period of years though if there are any further instances.

As for the other exponents of cheating on that list, scuffing up the pitch behind the umpire's back is no worse than sledging or using the odd bottle top or handful of dirt on the ball, or not walking, or Mankading, or any number of other "unsporting" cricketing actions.