Kevin Pietersen wants Mohammad Amir and any match-fixer, spot-fixer or drug taker to be banned for life

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Quote

Any sportsman or woman caught match fixing, spot fixing or taking drugs should be banned for life. They have broken the rules, should pay the price and not be given a second chance.

If you cheat the system either by taking drugs or money to under-perform then you are mugging the spectators, your team-mates and a sport that has been around a lot longer than you.

People always deserve a second chance in life but sport is different. We are paid to play a sport we love and are damn lucky to lead the life of a professional cricketer. To try and gain an advantage by taking drugs or devaluing your sport by being bribed is breaking the 11th and 12th commandments. There can be no way back.

In cricket the education players receive is so thorough. It is drilled into you. I know that for an hour before every T20 tournament I play in that I will be given an anti-corruption lecture. I have sat through so many that I could probably give my own lecture, so ignorance of the rules is no defence.

I understand that in the sub-continent cricketers come from villages where there is poverty and deprivation. The chance to escape the village and give their family a better life is something they will do anything for. They get the chance to play international cricket and earn massive sums of money and are exposed to temptation. But to bowl a no ball for £50,000 to earn more money is just greed.

This is not just about Mohammad Amir, who will play for Pakistan against England at Lord’s this week, but all cheats. Amir is one of many that has been caught and there are probably plenty of others who have got away with it and are still playing the sport.

That day we learned about the spot fix at Lord’s in 2010, when it emerged that Amir and Mohammad Asif had deliberately bowled no balls in exchange for money and in collusion with their captain Salman Butt, was horrible. The story broke on the Saturday night and we all felt sick on the final day of the game.

The guys did not shake hands at the end of the Test. We felt empty when we took the wickets to win the match and did not celebrate. I remember taking a catch at mid on and I just threw the ball back to Graeme Swann who was bowling. It was just an awful morning. The relationship between the two teams was fractured because we all knew the damage it would do to cricket.

That can be summed up by the fact we are still talking about it six years later. It was hard to be in the dressing room.

The result is cynicism. If anyone bowls a massive no ball or a wide first ball of a spell then people start to wonder, which is wrong because people just make mistakes on a cricket field. Cricket tests a player’s mental strength to such a degree that when you make an error you do not deserve to be accused of match fixing.

Bowlers bowl a wide first ball because because they do not know if the ball is swinging at that stage so it booms down the leg side. But you sit in the dressing room and you hear players say ‘hello, what was that all about?’ It has brought a whole load of innocent players under suspicion.

The focus will shift off Amir eventually. Once the first Test is out of the way the media will move on. The crowds at Edgbaston and Old Trafford will probably give him some stick but people will quickly realise Amir is an unbelievably good bowler.

I faced him in the Pakistan Super League in Dubai earlier this year. Yes he was bowling with the white ball but his skill levels are as good as they were before the ban.

He is just as quick, and as competitive as ever. He is a star bowler because he has this ability to change angles over and around the wicket. He can swing the new ball late and has a very good bouncer. He is in your face and it is very hard to get on top of him.

He is verbal. He lets you know he is bowling at you. In Dubai he was giving me plenty. He will cop a load of stick off the English fans but he will not take a step back. It is going to make great viewing.

With guys like him verbals from the crowd or a bit of sledging from the opposition spurs him on to do great things so the fans will not be doing England any favours by giving him some abuse.

He can win a Test match or two for Pakistan this summer so England have to concentrate on what they do best to churn out results. Trevor Bayliss and Alastair Cook will do that. They will not be bothered about the nonsense around Amir.

They will realise that riling him is not a good option. If he were a batsman it would be easier to sledge him because all 11 players could get on top of him and give him some verbal abuse. But as a bowler he has the power. If you rile him and he takes three wickets in five balls then you look like a chump, so the England players will not be focused on Amir’s past.

Pakistan will want to come here and make a statement given the last tour was such a disaster. They are a proud nation. They love their cricket and the sport is watched by millions in Pakistan. I know the Pakistan players want to put on a great show for their fans at home. We can see from the Pakistan Super League that they have a depth of talent in their game.

They lack experience at the top of the order and every time we played Pakistan they hated facing the Duke ball. In my time only Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan did well against us and they are among the very best of all time.

It is going to be a great series but I don’t believe Pakistan can beat England. Their batting is not strong enough and England have a bowling attack that in home conditions can beat the best in the world.

I wish Pakistan luck and I have a big respect for their game after playing in the PSL, so much so that I was honoured when they approached me to help them out as a batting consultant on this tour. But my schedule is too busy at the moment and my loyalty to England that means at this stage I would not want to work against them. This series is there for England to win.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016/07/11/mohammad-amir-and-any-match-fixer-spot-fixer-or-drug-taker-shoul/

 

 

 

I wonder if this is a mental disintegration strategy by the english versus the Pakistani.

[Malcolm Merlyn]

What is the opinion of people like

 

@Asim

@Bilal

@Utalk

[G_B_]

Drug taker... his mate Shane warne comes to mind... wasnt he banned for a year?

 

Got no love for aamir but more than even mental disintegration you get a feeling that the editors of Swann Pietersen etc have told them to write the piece to have maximum impact for click bait. The British media is a vicious entity. 

 

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

7 minutes ago, G_B_ said:

Drug taker... his mate Shane warne comes to mind... wasnt he banned for a year?

 

Got no love for aamir but more than even mental disintegration you get a feeling that the editors of Swann Pietersen etc have told them to write the piece to have maximum impact for click bait. The British media is a vicious entity. 

 

 

Yup his captain at hampshire and one his biggest suppourters was banned during 2003wc n got banned for a year

[Bilal]

Freedom of speech. You can understand if you put yourself in his place but at the same time Amir did his time and is back according to law.. no one is doing him any favour.

Peronally law should be more strict. This is a loophole in ICC laws.

[TheWall]

All England players will support KP in this issue.. except Moen Ali...

[Asim]

On 7/12/2016 at 6:42 PM, Malcolm Merlyn said:

What is the opinion of people like

 

@Asim

@Bilal

@Utalk

I've always been in favor of Amir return...

Considering the (most probable) facts and circumstances under which it happened... I feel we cannot punish Amir vs Salman/Butt equally...

[velu]

more mind games .. 

 

the way amir bowled in the T20 WC , i am sure english batsmen are sitting ducks if the ball is swinging ..

[Malcolm Merlyn]

16 hours ago, Asim said:

I've always been in favor of Amir return...

Considering the (most probable) facts and circumstances under which it happened... I feel we cannot punish Amir vs Salman/Butt equally...

 

You believe he was an innocent guy who was led astray?

 

Or

 

You believe that since he is "talented" he has to get preferential treatment?

[Vilander]

Amir is not at fault if you look at him from a pakistani prisim. I mean, without sounding politically incorrect, what he has done is not that big a crime given the fact that he is from his country. If he were from Eng he might have been banned for life from most facets of life, if he were from India he would have been banned for life from cricket and become an member of parliament, different countries handle these cases differently. Its about understanding different cultures.

[Asim]

6 hours ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

 

You believe he was an innocent guy who was led astray?

 

Or

 

You believe that since he is "talented" he has to get preferential treatment?

More of 1st one, I believe he was dragged into this by seniors which obviously includes Team-Captain...

Although yes I agree, he was part of International team, he was not a 9 yr old kid, he knew he was doing wrong... But... in my personal opinion, he probably took it as a 'system' and even if he didn't, I think if u r just making a start of a promising-looking career, in a country where still favoritism and similar things r very much in practice and ur Captain ask for something; illegal, I don't think many (may be in other parts of world too) would stand Against Captain and say NO at that point of their career...

 

[putrevus]

17 minutes ago, Asim said:

More of 1st one, I believe he was dragged into this by seniors which obviously includes Team-Captain...

Although yes I agree, he was part of International team, he was not a 9 yr old kid, he knew he was doing wrong... But... in my personal opinion, he probably took it as a 'system' and even if he didn't, I think if u r just making a start of a promising-looking career, in a country where still favoritism and similar things r very much in practice and ur Captain ask for something; illegal, I don't think many (may be in other parts of world too) would stand Against Captain and say NO at that point of their career...

 

No one including you would not give a damn if this guy was not talented and  your team needs an ace fast bowler and this guy has talent to be one.

 

So this notion that this guy was young and innocent is all nonsense.People need to stop being hypocrites and just say it even though he is a crook, we need him so we are trying to paint this innocent guy image for him to make us look good.

[Asim]

46 minutes ago, putrevus said:

No one including you would not give a damn if this guy was not talented and  your team needs an ace fast bowler and this guy has talent to be one.

 

So this notion that this guy was young and innocent is all nonsense.People need to stop being hypocrites and just say it even though he is a crook, we need him so we are trying to paint this innocent guy image for him to make us look good.

Someone asked my opinion which I gave, can't do much if u r getting furious bcz of my personal opinion ;)

and there's no doubt Amir was a rare talent, that's only why he is a Debate after 5 years of Ban because he is still more or less the same, anyone else with mediocre skills probably would not have been able to make a comeback himself and nobody would've bothered to generate an opinion...

but Yes, I do not totally disagree with you either, after-all u r speaking on the basis of ur personal experience...
u guys will do Everything to defend sachin's ball tempering but wont give a damn to sreesanth bcz of reasons u stated above...

[SLICKR392]

5 minutes ago, Asim said:

Someone asked my opinion which I gave, can't do much if u r getting furious bcz of my personal opinion ;)

and there's no doubt Amir was a rare talent, that's only why he is a Debate after 5 years of Ban because he is still more or less the same, anyone else with mediocre skills probably would not have been able to make a comeback himself and nobody would've bothered to generate an opinion...

but Yes, I do not totally disagree with you either, after-all u r speaking on the basis of ur personal experience...
u guys will do Everything to defend sachin's ball tempering but wont give a damn to sreesanth bcz of reasons u stated above...

Yeah, compare ball tampering to a high funda fixing fiasco. 

[Asim]

5 minutes ago, SLICKR392 said:

Yeah, compare ball tampering to a high funda fixing fiasco. 

Look told ya ;) its not about tempering vs fixing... its about when/for whom to defend one case of cheating vs when/for whom to not give a damn for another case of cheating... reasons are nicely described above by @putrevus

[navitrk]

Game is above all.... those of WHO betray THE GAME should be banned for life from cricket related area

[putrevus]

18 minutes ago, Asim said:

Someone asked my opinion which I gave, can't do much if u r getting furious bcz of my personal opinion ;)

and there's no doubt Amir was a rare talent, that's only why he is a Debate after 5 years of Ban because he is still more or less the same, anyone else with mediocre skills probably would not have been able to make a comeback himself and nobody would've bothered to generate an opinion...

but Yes, I do not totally disagree with you either, after-all u r speaking on the basis of ur personal experience...
u guys will do Everything to defend sachin's ball tempering but wont give a damn to sreesanth bcz of reasons u stated above...

Why are you bringing Sachin. Ball tampering and match fixing are two different things, Afridi got caught on live TV not just tampering with ball but also tampering with pitch, nobody  had any problem with Afridi playing cricket .

This defense mechanism which you guys come up is ridiculous, just like PCB pointed way back in 2011 if Pakistan is not safe to host world cup India also is not safe. No India is not Pakistan and Sachin is not a match fixer so do not compare both things.

Match fixing is selling the game , if any Indian player does it I don't want that guy playing the game anymore it is that simple and BCCI to its credit has never selected any match fixer to play for India again.

BTW I am not getting furious on you, it is excuse given on behalf of match fixers starting from your Ex captain Imran Khan which makes me angry.

[Asim]

1 hour ago, putrevus said:

Why are you bringing Sachin. Ball tampering and match fixing are two different things, Afridi got caught on live TV not just tampering with ball but also tampering with pitch, nobody  had any problem with Afridi playing cricket .

This defense mechanism which you guys come up is ridiculous, just like PCB pointed way back in 2011 if Pakistan is not safe to host world cup India also is not safe. No India is not Pakistan and Sachin is not a match fixer so do not compare both things.

Match fixing is selling the game , if any Indian player does it I don't want that guy playing the game anymore it is that simple and BCCI to its credit has never selected any match fixer to play for India again.

BTW I am not getting furious on you, it is excuse given on behalf of match fixers starting from your Ex captain Imran Khan which makes me angry.

Point here is not fixing vs cheating, point is: different set of standards for different players with Same case, which actually is ur own point and I do somewhat agree...
Its quite obvious that u will react totally differently, when its tempering from Sachin, u will go to any extent to defend him but u wont give a damn when lets assume Ishant or some of Kumar has Exactly the same case...

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Point here is not fixing vs cheating, point is: different set of standards for different players with Same case, which actually is ur own point and I do somewhat agree...

Its quite obvious that u will react totally differently, when its tempering from Sachin, u will go to any extent to defend him but u wont give a damn when lets assume Ishant or some of Kumar has Exactly the same case...

Waqar Younis Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim were also caught tampering the ball.Imran Khan admitted that he tampered with the ball.And FYI Sachin was exonerated by ICC of tampering charges.Ball tampering or pitch tampering or claiming grounded catches or abusing etc are different but fixing is a different crime altogether.There is no comparision.

See Amir is back because the laws allow him to be back.And thats it

But he is no innocent guy who was taken astray by seniors.He did what he did knowing full well what he was doing.But he was clever enough to realise that he should do a plea bargain and changed his stance when facing a jail time.Till that time and even at the ICC hearing he was pleading innocence.

[Asim]

2 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

Waqar Younis Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim were also caught tampering the ball.Imran Khan admitted that he tampered with the ball.And FYI Sachin was exonerated by ICC of tampering charges.Ball tampering or pitch tampering or claiming grounded catches or abusing etc are different but fixing is a different crime altogether.There is no comparision.

...

Point here is not fixing vs cheating, point is: different set of standards for different players with Same case, which actually is ur own point and I do somewhat agree...

Its quite obvious that u will react totally differently, when its tempering from Sachin, u will go to any extent to defend him but u wont give a damn when lets assume Ishant or some of Kumar has Exactly the same case...