What I am about to say can be offending to many of you. But as its my right to share my two-cents, let it be heard.
Let's be honest. Which team suffered the most after 2010 spot-fixing saga? We did. We lost out best players to 'cheating' and now we've lost one of 2-3 modern-day opener to the same cause. We've been acting like a saint that selling yourself and your country for few bucks deserves from life-ban to death penalty without ignoring the realities. Let me state few realities that most of you are expected to be agreed upon.
We can not deny these realities, I am not saying to turn blind over all sort of fixing. But we need to step out of that saintish-shell and accept the fact that spot-fixing is always going to lurk till we become the richest board and our players be among the richest ones around. We hear that Afridi doesn't fix games, why? because he got financial back to stay away from it. But not every else. And in reality, those all those ACCU lectures can't help snatching 'roti' from your child no matter how many times you play it. Our board must realize it if they ever care about the whole eco-system.
What is the solution? I don't know. For now, that's only what I believe in. You're free to add your points over it.
Again, its just a suggestion. What do you say about it? If anyone's offended by the notion of accepting some sort of fixings, please ignore this. Maybe someday you'll realize that it was the only way out, especially for poor countries.
Let's be honest. Which team suffered the most after 2010 spot-fixing saga? We did. We lost out best players to 'cheating' and now we've lost one of 2-3 modern-day opener to the same cause. We've been acting like a saint that selling yourself and your country for few bucks deserves from life-ban to death penalty without ignoring the realities. Let me state few realities that most of you are expected to be agreed upon.
- Sports is a game that we cherish, while for the players playing it, its their bread-and-butter for life, and they're only going to play for 10-15-20 years at max. They do need to reserve their stocks. Not ever board pays like BCCI. When you got family expenses to cover, need to earn more money topples country's cricket at times. Our players are OUR assets. We have invested over them for years and we do expect them to win against those rich boards. We can't let them go weak over that.
- Talent is a limited pool, and its getting rare with each year in Pakistan. We don't have Wasims and Anwars anymore. Our national setup is a mess. People leading are close to worse.
- The people working against country and running fixing business are going to be above law. They wont be the one getting caught, players will. Its like arresting gun-maker for someone else murdering a person. And there are one or two boards in elite members that would do anything to disrupt our cricket and economy
We can not deny these realities, I am not saying to turn blind over all sort of fixing. But we need to step out of that saintish-shell and accept the fact that spot-fixing is always going to lurk till we become the richest board and our players be among the richest ones around. We hear that Afridi doesn't fix games, why? because he got financial back to stay away from it. But not every else. And in reality, those all those ACCU lectures can't help snatching 'roti' from your child no matter how many times you play it. Our board must realize it if they ever care about the whole eco-system.
What is the solution? I don't know. For now, that's only what I believe in. You're free to add your points over it.
- Differentiate between manageable and unmanageable fixing. Match fixing is a crime but many spot-fixing instances does not have to be. For example, Muhammad Amir's over-stepping in 2010 could have very little influence on the whole game. Same goes for a certain ball miss or even a wicket when its not risky losing the game.
- We do sell ads all over our players, why not leasing out a moment or two like that? Those who doesn't influence the result of match much? It may be hard to draw a line between what's manageable and what's not, but its certainly much better than closing your eyes and assuming that anybody fix must die and it should not happen again.
Again, its just a suggestion. What do you say about it? If anyone's offended by the notion of accepting some sort of fixings, please ignore this. Maybe someday you'll realize that it was the only way out, especially for poor countries.
