Editorial: Pakistanis' corruption taints sport

When he retired in May after a decade-long stint at the head of the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit, Lord Condon declared the game was cleaner than it had been. He was right - but only to a degree.

Absent over the past few years have been match-fixing activities of the type orchestrated in 2000 by South African captain Hansie Cronje. But in their place has come a new menace, spot-fixing.

This involves gambling on aspects of games within a game. It might be the number of catches in an innings or the number of no-balls. It might get down to when those no-balls are bowled. The rewards for even this are huge in a sport that attracts much more betting than any other.

It comes as no real surprise, therefore, that Pakistani pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif are alleged to have deliberately bowled three no-balls during a test against England at Lord's.

They are said to have been bribed by Mazhar Majeed, a London-based "fixer", who was secretly filmed by the News of the World apparently accepting £150,000 ($327,000) to ensure the no-balls were delivered at certain times.

The Pakistan captain, Salman Butt, and wicketkeeper, Kamran Akmal, are also alleged to have been involved, and have been questioned by the British police.

The no-balls had no direct impact on the result of the test. But that matters little. This was still cheating, pure and simple.

That it took place at cricket's most famous ground, a place imbued with the grand and honourable traditions of the game, merely added to the ignominy. If the accusations are proven, the Pakistani players will enter a gallery of shame that already includes one of their former captains, Salim Malik, and another pace bowler, Atar-ur-Rehman, who received life bans from the sport in 2000 for match-fixing.

Joining them could be a current teammate, leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, one of two Essex players arrested in May during a police investigation into alleged spot-fixing. The Pakistani involvement in this darker side of the game is a matter of no great surprise. Cricket seems always to be in a state of tumult in that country. Change, whether it involves players or officials, seems to be the only constant.

Pakistan's top-level players, like those of other countries, go through a programme that alerts them to the entrapment techniques of the fixers, and the penalties if they succumb. But the temptation for some of them is probably greater, if only because they are paid far less than other international cricketers.

Part of the reason for this is the cross-border tension that denies them the riches available from the Indian Premier League. Many of the Pakistani players, such as Amir, are also young and unsophisticated and, therefore, more easily swayed.

None of this, however, can be an excuse. It is apparent that cricket's governors have gone a long way towards eradicating cheating from the game by imposing tough penalties. They cannot do anything less for players who are found guilty of spot-fixing.

That this will wreck the career of Amir, a brilliant 18-year-old regarded as the heir-apparent to Wasim Akram, will only reinforce the message for others tempted to tread the same path.

Given the huge sums available from betting scams, it would be idle to suggest even this will put an end to the problem. The soaring popularity of the Twenty20 game presents new opportunities for greed, and for the further tarnishing of the game.

The ICC has only so much power. More must be done by the governors of the game in Pakistan to reduce the temptation faced by their players. Until that is done, games involving Pakistan, including those in this country next summer, will inevitably have a cloud hanging over them.