Cricket must put its house in order fast

The British press has expressed shock, disappointment, anger and a sense of betrayal over the Pakistan spot-fixing allegations. All agree that the damage to the game has been enormous, and that if anyone is found guilty, punishment should be exemplary.

The Guardian, in an editorial, says that even a decade after the Hansie Cronje affair, the devastating claims of fixing still hold up.

That Mohammad Amir, a precocious talent, is at the heart of the current allegations is particularly damaging. Cricket must put its house in order fast. Nothing undermines the credibility of any sport more than the suspicion that what you are watching is in fact a fix.

The Independent says that a country like Pakistan, where people look up to cricket for moral inspiration, deserves better than to have it rubbed in that cricket is not devoted to fair play. Just getting rid of a few rotten apples won’t solve the problem, vigilance is the only way forward.

Indeed, this whole saga is very sad. It is damaging to the reputation of cricket, and is another blow to Pakistan, a country that is still partly under water and desperately in need of good news. Misgoverned for decades, it has a political class that contains few people whom anyone seriously looks up to for moral inspiration – hence, in part, the almost fanatical devotion to a sport that supposedly incarnates the ideal of fair play.

Nasser Hussain, in the Daily Mail, finds it hard to believe that the issue is only about a few no-balls. He says that if people can be involved in spot-fixing, it can also lead to more ominous stuff.

And the worry is that this is merely the tip of the iceberg. I find it hard to believe that we’re just talking about a few no-balls. I’m not pointing fingers at individuals but if guys get sucked into so-called spot-fixing, it can lead to more sinister stuff.

One minute you’re conceding a prearranged number of runs in a bowling spell, the next you’re throwing an actual match — and this fixer is now saying the Sydney Test against Australia in January was thrown.

Jonathan Agnew, in his BBC column, wonders how people will react if they see Mohammad Amir or Mohammad Asif bowling a no-ball in the Twenty20 international in Cardiff on Sunday. He wants a thorough investigation into the affair.

The game cannot afford for this to be swept under the carpet and if that means Pakistan, when this tour comes to an end, must serve a temporary exile from international cricket then so be it.

In the case of Amir, who is 18, it is terrible that a supremely talented youngster could be exposed to this. He is a delightful bowler with terrific skills. How sad it would be if it turns out his career is wrecked, but if anyone is involved in corruption he must be banned for life.

Dileep Premachandran in his Guardian blog feels that the malaise can be traced to the low wages the Pakistan players receive compared to their IPL-playing Indian counterparts. He also says that the Qayyum inquiry a decade ago had a chance to cleanse the system, but it merely absolved some of the biggest names.

In 2000, Qayyum recommended that "the PCB increase the pay of its cricketers and develop for them more avenues of income ... Pakistani players for all their talent are not as well-paid as their counterparts abroad. As long as they are underpaid the tendency to be bribed remains."

Michael Vaughan, in the Telegraph, feels the ODI series can wait but the game deserves to be cleaned up first. He says what happened is good for cricket in a way because the administrators now have nowhere to hide.

The future will hold some pretty uncomfortable questions for the Anti-Corruption Unit at the International Cricket Council. Why has it taken a British newspaper sting to bring it out in the open? What has the ACU been doing? It has operatives working all over the world and the ACU costs the game millions. But a British newspaper story has blown it open. It is embarrassing.

Ramiz Raja, in the Telegraph, does not think a lack of money is the reason. He blames the mentality of quick-fix which is due to a lack of leadership in Pakistani society.

It is about how an individual approaches life. What he wants to be and how he wants to live. When money is thrown on the table some people will say 'take it away and get out'. Others will take the money. It is about dishonesty, not how much you are being paid.

Cricket needs to use its TV-generated wealth to zealously monitor the game, writes Peter Preston in theGuardian. Ceremonial bans will achieve little.

You won't, in short, solve anything by draconian bans, by wiping whole nations from the cricketing map. You need to target the pushers. Pakistan, in yet another way, needs help and understanding – not ritual rage.

The PCB has allowed a culture to develop that has continued to tarnish the game, says Martin Samuel in theDaily Mail. This culture has now claimed one of the brightest talents cricket has seen, Mohammad Amir, as collateral damage.

Too many trusting men allowed themselves to be mesmerised by the myth of Pakistan cricket, its mood swings, its brilliant highs and devastating lows. They were spellbound and did not spot that the truth was considerably nastier, more grimly depressing.