Another match fixing scandal leads to Pakistan 'keeper going AWOL..



Zulqarnain Haider quits International scene,
aged 24  (PA)





 It has been reported Zulqarnain Haider, Pakistan's wicket-keeper, and a rising star, has retired today, amidst fresh match-fixing scandals in Dubai, regarding the series between Pakistan and South Africa.

It was only Friday that 24-year old Haider, hit the winning runs in the One Day International versus their counterparts, only the flee the team hotel on Monday before the fifth match and final one of the series.

This dark cloud that loomed over Pakistan during their tour to England has seemed to re-appeared, but this time it has took a young professional to come out immediately and take action himself to prevent any further damage to the game. Earlier in the year, we saw Mohammed Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt all axed from the tour as a result of fixing play, which has now put the game under scrutiny, and after this, it now seems like this won't be the last of the scandal.

The wicket-keeper has reportedly quoted, ""It is best to retire from international cricket since my family and I are constantly getting threats."

On Friday, where allegedly the betting was took place, Pakistan beat South Africa by one wicket, and Zulqarnain hit the winning runs to draw the series level. However, he was told that to "cooperate with us, and you will make a lot of money."




Zulqarnain, (left), hits winning runs in the 4th ODI thriller
vs. South Africa. (BBC)


If these reports of Zulqarnain are true, that he will retire, then this is an absolute shame. At 24-years of age, he has many years ahead of him, and could become one of the best keepers in the world in a few years, but cheats and money forced him to seek political asylum in the UK.

How low has the game, that I personally love to play, and love to watch, become? Back to the England series, the three players involved were, and still are a disgrace to their country for allowing money to rule the game, and ruin the game.  Professionally wiser, and older than Zulqarnain, Butt and Asif should of took a leaf out of this young man's book, and allow cricket to come out on top. Despite Amir being 19, there is no doubt he has let everyone down, with such an exceptional talent, and a breath of fresh air in the game, he now has a reputation that will forever stay with him.

We would all love money. We would all love to have lots of money. I would. I'm not disputing that. But, to be playing cricket for your nation, you should show pride, and dignity, and be proud and no matter what is offered to you, you should NOT get involved in scandals such as this.

Zulqarnain is a massive credit to himself, and to stand up to foul and corrupt people behind this, shows great character about the Pakistani.

The ICC now need to take a massive stance against match-fixing.

This is not just recently, this has happened in the past.

Cronje was found out with links
to corruption. (Mail)

Former South African captain, Hanse Cronje, who died in a plane crash in 2002, was caught out match fixing, with admissions he had took bribes from bookmakers to 'provide information and fix matches'.

Granted immunity from prosecution, Cronje told the King Commission he received around $US140,000 from bookmakers, including $US110,000 from Gupta for information on team selection, daily forecasts and when he would declare against India at Cape Town in January 1997. He denied ever fixing the actual result of a match. He also admitted telling the South African team, before the Mohinder Amarnath benefit game at Mumbai in December 1996, that there was $US200,000 (some sources said $250,000) on the table if they played badly. The team actually debated whether to accept the money before rejecting it; no one reported the matter to the authorities.

- Hansie Cronje, cricinfo.com.



Azharuddin was banned for life. (TopNewsIn)






Ex-India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was hit with a life time ban after being found guilty. He was found guilty of fixing three one day international matches after it was revealed he amongst three other cricketers had links with bookmakers.



These are two other major examples of corruption in cricket, and the ICC now have to find a way of clamping out, or at the least clamp down on this sorry state of affairs, and clean up the game of cricket, before it spirals out of control.

What most people consider this a 'gentleman's game', this game has now become a target for players like Zulqarnain, but the cricketing world now needs to follow in the footsteps of him, and take action before something serious happens.

The Ashes: Slump in form puts pressure on Ponting and Co..But don't dismiss Ponting as skip!



Australia have endured a torrid time of late.. (Cricinfo)



Australia are currently going through a slump in form, and one that you would rarely see from such a massive cricket nation. Ponting wants to end bad run.

Ricky Ponting's side have now lost seven matches in all forms of the game, and right now, it couldn't of come at a worse time. With the Ashes series just over a fortnight away, Ponting has got to arrest this slide, before his position and many of CB Australia's position becomes under scrutiny.

England's most famous rivals in cricket have been renowned for their most famous cricketing sons', such as Lillee, Chappell - long before I was born, players who have graced us and those I can remember watching at a young age, those of Steve and Mark Waugh, Gilchrist and Healy, Hayden and Langer, most recently, Glenn McGrath, and current captain Ricky Ponting, who himself has had the pressure of the Aussie public, calling for his head.

Legends McGrath, Warne and Ponting celebrate a five-nil Ashes Win..(PA)

But, who better than a level-headed professional, the most experienced in the side who has won the Ashes as captain, and as a player, producing memorable performances. Going back to the 2006-7 series in Australia. The First Test in Brisbane and what a way to start, in their first attempt to win back the Urn since losing it in England. Ponting lead from the front and produced a fantastic 196. Australia surpassed 600 before declaring, skittling out the tourists for 152, and winning the First Test by 277 runs. Brisbane First Test, 2006-7. In Adelaide for the Second test, again in their first innings, he destroyed England's bowlers, hitting a masterful 142 as he lead Australia to 513, despite being 38 runs behind, England failed in the second innings, giving Australia a very low target of 167 on the last day, and England went 2-0 behind. Adelaide Second Test, 2006-7. 

In the Third Test at Perth, England lost the Ashes. Ponting steered home this test with a 206 run victory, and despite only scoring 2 in the first innings, he helped guide the Aussies home with a 75 before getting out. England got it all wrong here down under, the last time they came, and Ponting along with his boys, Hayden, Langer, Clarke, McGrath and Clarke, they helped destroyed England and went on to record a 5-0 whitewash over the tourists. Perth Third Test, 2006-7.

Four years on, the golden oldies of this generation retired. Ponting, Clarke and Hussey are the most notable of the survivors from the last Ashes down under, and a whole new breed of players have grown, but haven't reached the heights of those that had the whole of the cricketing world fearing them. Brett Lee, one of many to retire from Test Cricket.

Now we see the likes of inexperienced Phil Hughes, Clint McKay, Nathan Hauritz to a certain extent. Australia, yesterday, crashed to their seventh defeat in their ODI vs. Sri Lanka. The Aussies of old, never lost to Sri Lanka on home turf, but how times have changed. OK, we still see Shane Watson and Mitchel Johnson, who in comparison with some of their current crop at the moment, are the older heads of the team, have not produced the goods that have had Australia tagged as the greatest nation of all time. Sri Lanka win 2nd ODI.

Murali celebrating yet ANOTHER wicket in Aus.. (Cricinfo)

On Wednesday, in the same fixture, Australia set 239 for Sri Lanka to chase. This was not a huge target, but a respectable one and one to bowl at. The Australians took the attack to them. Sri Lanka soon found themselves in real trouble. After being 84/4, the tourists went on to find themselves at 107/8. But your unlikely heroes would be Angelo Matthews and Lasith Malinga. At number 10, and with Australia having the upper hand, there should of been only one way this result was going, and it did NOT go to Australia. Matthews hit a wonderful 77 not out and shared in a 10th wicket partnership of 122 before Malinga (56 off 48 - six 4's and two 6's) was run out by Steven Smith caused the biggest upset in years, and one that Ponting would want to forget as soon as. Shock upset as Malinga and Matthews guides visitors home.

How can they stop this rot? It all goes back to basics, but the Ashes is not far now, and will somehow have to come up with something to prevent what could be an 8th and possibly 9th match defeat in succession in all competitions.

Ponting (right) will be looking to lead Hauritz (left) and co to Ashes Glory..(cricinfo).

But don't get rid of Ricky. If anyone, you want someone with a vast amount of experience in such an inexperienced squad, and this is where you need Ponting. At 35 years of age, Ponting has amassed 12,250 Test runs in 251 innings. In 148 matches, the Tasmanian born number three bat has an impressive average of 54.68. Hitting 39 centuries and 55 half centuries, if records are anything to go by, you can not dismiss Ponting for Australia's recent demise. His stats are outstanding, his records are unbelievable and his presence on this pitch is priceless.

England may be the favourites, and as an Englishman myself, I would love to see Strauss and the boys bring home the Urn, for the first time since Gatting brought it back in 1986/87. But as a neutral, I would love to see Australia bring back that form, that can devastate anyone, at any point. (But only after The Ashes).

Tradition or Change? Do we bring in two more officials for more accurate decisions?

Tradition plays an important part in all sports. In English football, most notably, a Saturday 3.00pm kick off is tradition. Playing at Wembley in a cup final – this is tradition. A referee and two linesmen in football has always been tradition. BUT, the introduction of two more officials on the pitch, you could consider this absurd. Introduction of five officials. Especially those who have been around to see  England’s 1966 World Cup Final  win for example, or Manchester United’s famous treble, where the thought of having two more officials would never be dreamt of in anyone’s wildest imaginations, but in today’s game, change is happening, and so is this.

Goal line controversies, the ball going out of play by the by touchline are some examples of the reason why this is happening. Who recalls the Pedro Mendes-Roy Carroll incident at Old Trafford. With the score at 0-0, watch this clip:

 

One of many incidents, where this was quite clearly a goal, the officials didn’t give this a goal..

Yep.. officiating at England’s top tier, and failing to identify this, is to be honest, abysmal.

Most recently, let’s go to Vicarage Road, home of Watford Football Club. In this Championship fixture, relatively new referee Stuart Attwell came under fire along with his colleagues for allowing this ‘ghost goal’ to count..

Watford vs. Reading–the goal that never was..

 

I’ll let you make your opinions of linesman Nigel Bannister and referee Stuart Attwell on that one..

But what I want to debate is, do we move on from tradition – banishing the idea of two more officials in today’s football at all or various levels, and continuing the three-official trend, or do we move on, accept change is happening in modern day football, and allow to believe that more officials are required to become more consistent in their performances, and see a decline in faults given.

For tradition, we shouldn’t have to force change. We should be able to rely on officials, to give the right decision and continue the trend set since football began as a professional sport. We shouldn’t have to request TV replays, in which this has been successful however, in cricket and tennis, for unsure decisions. Tradition is great for the game. We don’t and probably will never notice and acknowledge that tradition has been around for-ever.

On the other hand, it is probably what we see now, as a dying breed in the game. Inconsistency at the top level, to give correct decisions has become a liability now. The campaign ‘RESPECT’ for Referees, has been  a fail, massively. How can players respect referees, and trust them if they fail to see something which is so obvious to ANYONE? You can not tell me, we should still ‘respect’ referees if they give dubious decisions, horror calls and get away with it. Players are criticised for their performances, managers are criticised in their area of the game. But we are not allowed to barrack referees for failing to identify a goal for instance, or if the ball has run out of play, which leads to a goal? Respect, yes. Don’t abuse them, I am not promoting this, but maybe I feel it is time to bring in more officials. If anything, to protect referees as well as teams. Based on tradition in the previous paragraph, what could I defend? I couldn’t really, could I? My opinions are stacked up against tradition, and we must see consistency at all times now.

FIFA, UEFA and The FA – allow the introduction of more officials in the game. There you will see more respect for officials on their decisions, and and improved performance all round – providing they get the decision spot, the majority of the game.

(This is an open debate, if you decide to comment).