Cricket Spot-Fixing Trio Should Face Maximum Penalty, If Found Guilty

If Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif, and Mohammed Amir are found guilty by the ICC of spot-fixing, I believe they should face the maximum penalty of a lifelong ban.

Mohammed Amir, a particularly talented young man, is attempting to make a plea that he is young (18 years old) and has no prior disciplinary record, and should be let off easy. This plea has a lot of support from both Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis, as Amir's magnificent bowling is a match-winner for a deteriorating Pakistani cricket team at the highest levels of the game, and at 18 years of age with 51 Test scalps to his name, this young man is a legend in the making.

As much as Mr. Amir is an asset to the game, I feel leniency by the ICC would be entirely inappropriate if indeed wrongdoing is established. Competing at the international level, the apex of the game, comes with perks and responsibilities, neither of which are mitigated by a tenderness of age.

Pakistan recently demolished New Zealand by 10 wickets in a Test match at Hamilton, bowling the hosts out twice in 3 days, and finding time to put up a very respectable 388 runs in between. Beset by controversy and chronic structural problems in Pakistan Cricket, the team continues to punch above its weight category in the international arena, and the country seems to be drawing from a fairly rich pool of talent (see article). These cricketers will be replaced soon enough by new, hopefully more ethically compliant, athletes.

This is the first corruption case to be handled by the newly assembled, centralized anti-corruption apparatus of the ICC. A clear message should be sent, both to players and to spectators, that corruption, however small, will not be tolerated from anyone, however young and promising.

A verdict is expected later today.

***Update*** They've deferred judgement to the 5th of February. Anti-climactic, but wholly appropriate that they want to give the issue full consideration before considering an outcome.