Refocus on match fixing is a wake up call for Pak cricket: Editorial

Islamabad, May 7 (ANI): The release of Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif and the consequent refocus on the match or spot fixing business should be seen as a wake-up call for cricket in Pakistan, states an editorial in a Pakistan daily.

Asif was released from Britain's Canterbury Prison recently, after completing part of his one-year sentence for alleged spot fixing during the 2010 Lord's Test match against England.

Asif has been allowed by the Home Office to remain in the UK to pursue his appeal against the spot-fixing convictions and until his appeal is completed against his conviction.

According to the editorial, Asif seems unabashed by his experience. He continues to deny guilt, insisting that the fateful no ball he bowled at a specific moment in the match came as a result of directions issued to him by Captain Salman Butt to run in faster.

Butt, himself, is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence.

While Amir had the cover of youth, making it easier to believe he may have been coerced into wrongdoing, this does not hold true for the more experienced Asif, the editorial said.

It also stated that Asif's past records include involvements in drug scandals, which do little to build credibility for the talented bowler.

During the months spent in detention by its cricketers, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should have been putting in place a long-term strategy to tackle the problem, the editorial said.

The issue is, of course, an international one; the lust for money is universal, the editorial stated, adding that Pakistan should make some effort to avoid future embarrassment against this menace and also inculcate values in youthful cricketers and offer them an escape route when they find they are being pulled into the fixing trap by forces within or outside the team they represent. (ANI)