Post of the Week # 1 : Ends 4th Sep

[Zap_Brannigan]

with the fixer disguised as the Fat Bastard! :P

[gaurav92]

MTC

[IKnowU]

I am old fashioned. I still get turned on by India winning than the IPL cheerleaders.

:rotfl: http://indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=211643&page=5

[Gunner_Mania]

:rotfl:

Post the link to the thread/post also please.

[SachDan]

Problem is this exact attitude in Pakistan. Rewind to the time when Asif and Akhtar were caught doping. Everyone was hell bent on making Akhtar the fall guy. The general sentiment was that Asif is young and was coaxed into things by Akhtar and so Asif should be let off leniently. Now 4 years and numerous scandals later, Asif is being made the scapegoat and Amir is being given a soft corner. If strict action is not taken against him at this point, 5 years later Amir will be sending some other newcomer on the path to destruction. Probably a life ban is too harsh, but he should be given a minimum of 5 years ban. If he is really motivated and hungry, he will train and wait out those 5 years and come back reformed having realized the importance of what he missed out on. On the other hand, if he is given a 1-2 year ban, it will have no effect except to put the careers of future Pakistani cricketers in jeopardy.

Reading posts about him being coerced and forced is laughable. There are so many avenues for him to blow the whistle - the ACU, the media, the police even if he does not trust his own board. Unless someone can show me that his old mother and blind sister were being held at gunpoint by some thugs, the coercion element just does not fly. Firstly, bets in the illegal market are available pretty much on every aspect of the game. Majeed is no fool to just give away a huge amount like 150,000 pounds for nothing. But even if we were to assume that this was an inconsequential 'test run', all indications are that actual betting has happened before and was being planned for the future as well. Remember NOTW was just one 'client'. God knows how many clients would Majeed and the team be dealing with. Detailed investigations should reveal that. An 18 year old is no kid. Even by the age of 14-15 most children in today's world start being aware of the rights, wrongs, and consequences. As I said it is this very 'soft corner' approach to Asif which made him into the monster he is today. Continue doing it with Amir and 5 years down the line he would have destroyed some other youngster.

http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?p=1155006#post1155006

[zen]

" fixin powers" gets my vote. I can't stop laughing after seeing that

[Rajan]

My 2 cents -that post deserves a Top 3 ranking certainly and in my humble opinion, the first POTW!:hatsoff::yay:

[Roshanrocks]

I haven't been here for some time for various personal reasons. I did post a few thoughts on CW and just to save the effort, I will do a cut and paste job. My apologies for that. On cricketers should be paid more so that they are not "pulled" by the lure of easy money

I am amazed at the logic of paying more money to players so that they are not tempted to cheat ! This is fantastic. Start paying huge sums to known kidnapping gangs in Uttar Pradesh india so that kidnappings go down. Start paying ten times the current salaries to Indian bureaucrats so that corruption can be reduced. In other words, reward people for being crooked. Hoping that advance payment will prevent subsequent deviant behaviour. Weird ! The first thing that needs to be done is deterrent punishment. But we are oh soooo forgiving. One does not need to go into the number of times deviant behaviour by cricketers has brought exactly the kind of uproar we are reading and hearing here and then those very cricketers come back. People like Azharuddin are now honourable members of parliament. We deserve the crooks that exist in our midst, amongst our politicians, our police, our bureaucrats and our sportsmen. Let every Indian and pakistani put his hand on his heart and ask himself (you dont have to tell us) if he/she does not know of relatives who are in positions of influence and make money through corruption. I have some big ones in my family and they are not shunned by anyone. they are big shots and get royal treatment y family members even while people continue to shout themselves hoarse about the state of our countries. All those who are exposed in this scandal will go scot free (unless you take a few hundred thousands as fine or missing a few tests as punishment enough) and will continue to play and the fans who are screaming blue murder will, by and large, be supportive of it. Two years from now we will be talking of "where is the proof". We deserve the rot that exists in our systems for we do not have the balls to do anything about it.

On Some of our poiticians making our corrupt cricketers look like saints

Sure :-) thats just the point I was trying to make. There is no difference between our MP's, bureaucrats, crooks, smugglers AND sportsmen. We are all the same and great hypocrites to boot. Everything is forgiven and forgotten with time, riots in Delhi or Gujarat, Mrs Gandhi's rape of democracy, the daily scandals by the same politicians for decades et al. Its not any different with errant sportsmen. We will forgive the Aamirs of today as we forgave the Azhar's, Jadeja's, and Sharma's of yesterday. We will come out in defense of the cricketers of today with things like, minor offense, he must have been pressurised by others, they get sop little money poor guys, where is the proof (there never is any after decades of legal quagmire in our part of the world). One can just go on and on. I am sorry to sound so negative but this is such a painful thing for me watching our downward slide over over the years and please dont give me this nonsense about Manmohan Singh being an honest politician. The poor guy cant win a single election in our country and thats the point I am trying to make. Don't also give me the great strides India has made as a nation and the ten percent growth rate. Hansie Cronje wasn't excused for the strides South African cricket made. We are so thick-skinned and so damned defensive when it comes to looking under our carpets and we expect things to improve? I am sorry for the temper but this really pisses me off.

On this being a case of Spot Fixing

Lets get this thing straightened out. NOTW did not ask Majeed to have the no balls bowled. The Majeed character has been going around trying to promote his "business" of 'fixing' cricket matches for the benefit of his clients - existing or potential. The NOTW reporters contacted him pretending to be a far east betting syndicate and wanted to know how could Majeed assure them he was not just making an idle boast. In order to prove his credentials, of his hold over the Pakistani cricketers, of being able to get them to do his bidding, he suggested a small 'trailer' if you please; of a 'relatively harmless' preview (as far as the game and any actual betting is concerned) of what he could do. So he said he could make them bowl no balls on the exact balls of the exact over and gave the over and ball numbers off the cuff. When asked who would bowl the particular overs, he said so and so. All this NOT FOR ANY SPOT FIXING, as the media has been crying hoarse, but just to advertise the quality of his 'product/services' - if you please. And then he delivered on his promise. To watch the tapes live and to see what actually happened is shocking even when one is convinced that this kind of thing has been happening regularly for a long time. To say that these are allegations and not yet proven maybe okay from the point of view of protecting one's backside from legal action by the defendants but to actually believe that this entire thing is some elaborate hoax is to deny that your ancestors were apes; and to claim the ostrich as a recent grand grand grand . . . parent. Yes the bowlers concerned were not doing any great harm to the game in question by those three no balls surely it showed what a hold characters like Majeed have over these cricketers. To say that salman butt was not involved is to show complete lack of logic and reasoning. How could it be assured that the 'right' bowler bowled the particular over without the captain being involved? To say that only the Pakistani cricketers do such things is to show naiveté, bias, a holier than thou attitude or a combination of one or more of these. However, having said that, the fact is that it is Pakistan who have been embroiled in it so often, they are the ones that are being caught with the hand in the cookie jar and they are the ones that are squealing on their team-mates. So they have to face the music. To ask for Pakistan to be banned from Test cricket because their cricketers are involved is unfair but it is not unfair to ask Pakistan to take stringent and IRREVOCABLE action or else. This is nit just completely fair but is also absolutely necessary. That Mr Pawar, a senior minister from a country that has serious political issues going back over sixty years with Pakistan, is the President of ICC is yet another reason to bemoan the pre-eminence of politicians in sporting bodies. He is in between a rock and a hard place today and he does not know what to do. The only people who have genuine stakes in the game and who should be expected to do the right thing in this situation are the poor hapless Pakistani cricket fans. One's heart goes out to them but how one wishes they would put their knee-jerk reactions, defensive or otherwise, aside and realise what an unholy mess their cricket and their country is in. It doesn't matter whether the rest of the world is being fair to them or not. They need to ask themselves whether they are being fair to their country's and their cricket's long term future. Sentimentality and trying to put up a front before the rest of the world wont help anything except pamper our personal egos. We have to understand that the bruises to our egos, howsoever severe, are the least of our problems in such a crisis. There are much more serious and urgent issues at stake. We dont have to listen to the shameless leaders who are crying,"Its a moment of shame for our country". These leaders have brought greater shame to our countries than the cricketers. But the fact ios that we are discussing the cricketers now and we need to set our house in order as far as the cricket is concerned. I may be excused for using the first person even when talking of the Pakistani fans but as always, I feel a strong sense of affinity to my brothers across the border and wish them well.

On the merits or otherwise of removing the named cricketers immediately

Even yesterday a very senior Indian journalist said on TV that not removing these guys immediately (same day) must have already vitiated the atmosphere of the dressing room. He specifically said that the talk in the dressing room is in all likelihood going to be about how much money these guys made and not whether they did something wrong. That those n ot involved are going to only feel envious for not having shared in the spoils. Mr Sheharyar Khan was on the video link at the same time and did not say a word to say this was not likely to be the case let alone protest vehemently. Pakistan has many problems and not even the majority of them are because of the cricketers but surely one of the biggest is not having ever taken exemplary punishment and carried it through. The only person whose "life-ban" has ever stood in Pakistan was Salim Malik and that was not because he was more guilty but because he was at the end of his career anyway. When someone does things like Afridi's dance or eating a cricket ball, they deserve absolutely no mercy. Here the guy ended up rising to become Pakistan team's captain. Mohammad Asif is a classic case. Pakistan has to realise that cricketing expediencies do not justify letting cheats continue. Where are they now (Pakistan cricket that is) neither close to the top of cricket ranking and surely at the bottom of the 'fair play' awardees ! Lots of things need to be done besides to restore the long term health of the game i Pakistan and elsewhere but letting such blatant behaviour not get the utmost deterrent punishment is not one of them. I do not yield to anyone, on this forum or elsewhere, as a well wisher of Pakistan, its people and its cricketers and I say the above with that sentiment as the only one governing my words.

On the changing Tune of Pakistani authorities over the last two days

It was amusing to see Pakistani cricketers and politicians veering around to, nothing has been proven, no one is arrested, no one is charged, not fair to jump to conclusions. But thats true to form. After the initial shock and fury, they have always resorted to this line so one would have been surprised only if they had done otherwise. What is irritating, however, is that the media is not able to challenge them beyond saying, "but how can you deny what you see on tape" and then shut up when they repeat, "No one has been charged" line once again. But even that is not surprising for most of the TV anchors are only good for using sensational words not for going into the facts of the matter which are as under . . . 1. ICC can not take any action till the law of the land (England) has run its course. . . . . . . and the law of the land is stymied. 2. Majeed Mazhar was let off on bail and no charges have been framed because there is no law that seems to have been broken ! Under British law for a case of fraud to be registered there has to be a party that has been defrauded. Someone ought to have bet on those balls being not being no-balls and hence lost money on account of a conspiracy between the players/Majeeed/whoever else. This did not happen because this was not a case of "spot fixing" as the idiots of the media have been crying hoarse from the beginning. As I mentioned in an earlier post it was only Majeed trying to show the NOTW reporters, who he thought represented a far east betting syndicate, that he had leverage with the Pakistani players. There WAS no betting involved. He just took the money, said so-and-so over's so-and-so ball willl be a no-ball and delivered on his promise. All to show what he could do in the interest of FUTURE business possibilities with this "Betting syndicate" Looking for a proof of fraud will of course result in no proof for their was no intention to defraud anyone ! Majeed never said any betting was taking place for on those no-balls. So where is the question of finding any proof of spot-fixing in those tapes. 3. No court of law in England can bring them to book and the Pakistanis having realised that have started "bulding thier defense" around this without bothering to go into the heart of the matter which is that Majeed could get players to do his bidding for money on the field of play. This was just a trailer of what he could do in future (or may have done in the past as he claims) for the benefit of new potential clients ! 4. The ICC, once the law has run its course, can bring the players to book for bringing the game into disrepute etc etc but I could take a small bet that by then the Pakistani establishment would have talked so long and so with so much of damaged innocence, of "no law was broken, no match was fixed, there was no spot-fixing involved, no betting involved, no proof has been found, our players are innocent and so on and so forth. The majority of the Pakistani public would have, by then, started believing this nonsense which completely ignores what actually happened and all sorts of conspiracy theories about attempts to malign Pakistan by its enemies will be brandished with impunity. Unfortunately for Pakistan, for its cricket, and for the game in general this will be another tragedy. But who cares after the sound and fury has spent its course. Its business as usual for everyone.

On what should be done . . . but WONT be done

I think the simple thing to do, since Scotland Yard is not going beyond the criminal aspects if any 9and there are none it seems) of what happened, is for PCB, ICC and whosoever is genuinely interested, is to get a report from the Scotland Yard of the genuine-ness of the Video tapes and the claims made by NOTW and Majeed. If the answer is yes(which is most likely) they have to take the most stringent possible action against all those involved directly PLUS initiate sincere efforts to find who eklse is involved and not yet named. If the answer is no (that is the video is a fraus or the NOTW and/or Majeed are lying) then they should put their money where their mouths are and file for a massive defamation case (from the PCB and the Pakistan Governments side) to bring the matter to a logical conclusion. Of course none of this is going to happen. The Scotland Yard will make its report and close the case if no criminal charges can be framed (as is likely if no laws of the land have been broken), PCB and Pakistan Government and cricketers (past and present) will shout from the roof tops about conspiracies and the fans will go back home to watch the next game. I am sorry if this sounds cynical but this is how it is. This is why the ball is now squarely in the ICC's court for no one else has either the inclination or the interest to do anything more. Unfortunately from ICC and Mr Pawar I expect nothing . . . nothing whatsoever either on this or on the IPL scam where he is the only one involved with the BCCI who refuses to say anything completely negative about Mr Modi. The reasons are obvious to some and suggest themselves to others but no one cares for what matters at the end of the day is the greenback and thats what brings about the scams . . . and thats what helps sweeping all the dirt back under the fabulous, thick, exotic carpets. Boycott the games as cricket fans if you care. I intend to if this matter too is brushed under the carpet.

http://indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=1156711&postcount=468 SOlid post from SJS sir :hatsoff:

[zubinpepsi]

I vote for SJS post

[SachDan]

I vote for SJS post

:dito:

[Zelig]

I vote for SJS post

:dito:

Jeez kids! :regular_smile: Use the 'thumb-up' (like moi) NOM :icflove:

[Zap_Brannigan]

I will make a poll after Sep 4 to choose a winner. Clicking on the thumbs up is not fair to posts added recently.

[The Outsider]

Zap, I suggest you be the judge of POTW rather than leaving it open to a poll. All the nominations can be posted in this and similar threads and you choose the best one. I'll ask varun and Ludh if there is a way that the weekly POTW winner can have a title amended to his user name.

[kabira]

I think you need to atleast choose top 3 and then polling will make sense.

[DomainK]

Zap' date=' I suggest you be the judge of POTW rather than leaving it open to a poll. All the nominations can be posted in this and similar threads and you choose the best one. I'll ask varun and Ludh if there is a way that the weekly POTW winner can have a title amended to his user name.[/quote'] Dont do that. THe poor guy will never be able to judge his own post as better than others and will never win the POTW even if he makes excellent posts (and he has a a great post in contest already). It would be better to have a panel of 4/5 people (chosen by ZAP himself) and chose the winner for each week. Also, we can give some ICF$s to the winners?

[Zap_Brannigan]

Dont do that. THe poor guy will never be able to judge his own post as better than others and will never win the POTW even if he makes excellent posts (and he has a a great post in contest already). It would be better to have a panel of 4/5 people (chosen by ZAP himself) and chose the winner for each week. Also' date=' we can give some ICF to the winners?[/quote'] I suggested that , to have an elite panel but its needs volunteers and i dont know how to go about setting up that. I will make a poll with top 5 tomorrow. If there aren't enough voters, i will get some volunteers to judge from next week. I dont mind choosing the winner but i am really torn about 3 posts here and i dont think i could choose between the 3.

[EnterTheVoid]

My vote goes to SJS's post

[ravishingravi]

My vote to SS

[Sachinism]

Let everyone vote, use the thumbs up system

[DomainK]

I suggested that ' date=' to have an elite panel but its needs volunteers and i dont know how to go about setting up that. I will make a poll with top 5 tomorrow. If there aren't enough voters, i will get some volunteers to judge from next week. I dont mind choosing the winner but i am really torn about 3 posts here and i dont think i could choose between the 3.[/quote'] Not sure about volunteers. But if you send them PMs, I dont think anyone will say no. Just make sure that you chose members who are wise and post frequently. Good luck for this week.:two_thumbs_up: