Editorial: Cricketers' corruption needed strong penalty

There has been an odd outpouring of something approaching sympathy for the three Pakistani cricketers imprisoned for conspiring to bowl deliberate no-balls in a test against England last year.

But if sport and jail sentences are rarely mentioned in the same breath, there is every reason for that to be so in this instance. The trio's participation in a betting scam was as contemptible as it was corrupt.

As a consequence, cricket followers worldwide are questioning whether every dropped catch or soft dismissal is genuine. Strong action was necessary to start restoring the game's integrity.

Much of the sympathy has been reserved for Mohammad Amir, the young fast bowler. He was said to have been influenced by Salman Butt, the former captain of Pakistan, and Mohammad Asif, another bowler.

Yet Amir was playing his 14th test when he transgressed at Lord's. Testimony at the trial, which suggested his involvement in other suspicious activities, confirmed he was not totally naive. He has, in any event, been handed a lesser sentence - six months in a young offenders' institute - in recognition of both his guilty plea and the greater culpability of Butt and Amir.

The prison terms were the more necessary because the International Cricket Council had failed to act appropriately. In February, it banned the trio for five years. A far longer ban, perhaps even for life, was essential, given the need to deliver a meaningful deterrent. The jailing of Butt for 30 months and Asif for one year has finally provided that.