Pakistan in a "Spot"

The roller-coaster of Pakistan cricket has reached another low. Just last week after victory in the 3rd Test against England, there were people commenting about the revival of Pakistani cricket. At Lords with England at 102/7 everything seemed to point in the right direction with the talks of a series equalling win going on. Since then everything changed. Trott & Broad's world record partnership for the 8th wicket, followed by another Pakistani collapse ad England were on top in the match. However it wasn't the match as such which depressing. It was the off-field revelations which caused the more serious damage. Allegations of spot-fixing surfaced with the arrest of a bookie. It was alleged that Asif and Aamer had been bowling no-balls deliberately while the skipper Salman Butt was also involved, as were a few other players. It was also revealed that the players had been questioned by Scotland Yard.

Worse than the loss has been the questions of the integrity and character of the players. Spot fixing is just a way to make quick money without really fixing the overall result. If involved the players are cheating the genuine cricket lovers. It is sad to see hugely talented players like Asif go from one controversy to another. And if an 18 year old like Aamir is involved in these murky underhand dealings then something is terribly wrong with the entire Pakistani setup. The worst part is these allegations surface with too high a frequency in relation to Pakistani cricket. 

When the match-fixing scandal broke out in 2000, many players were found to be involved. And every country took steps to clean up their act. Since then there hasn't been a single allegation against any other team's national squad members. But this isn't the case with Pakistan. Every few months some other scandal breaks out. 

Something is truly rotten with the state of Pakistani cricket. And it needs to be cleaned up. Soon. The cricket playing world is too small to lose Pakistan.