Drowning in shame

If you are a Pakistani there can be only two reactions you can have to the above video, the first would be the sinking feeling we all get when things surface then are swept under the carpet and then surface again. In between all this we usually tend to come up with a cockamamie conspiracy theory or two to let us off the international hook but the sinking feeling of truth remains in our gut.

The second would be that of outrage, at a point when the country is drowning literally as 3.2 million people have become IDP’s due to the flood, these representatives these so called hero’s of Pakistan have yet again forced us all to bow our heads in shame, yes I am using the pm Gillanis words and I stand with him when he says “our heads are bowed in shame”

Everyone knows the story by now, a spot fixer offers info on the last day in the last test match between England and Pakistan at Lords. The NOTW team pose as far eastern betting syndicate members and pays him off video taping the entire scene and  the next day to everyone’s shock the instances quoted in video happen right on cue and by none other than Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamir the M’s who were supposed to out pace the W’s in pak bowling legends. They bowl no balls at the exact time and ball count given by the fixer damning all of us Pakistani cricket fans to the pits of humilation for a long time.

People are now in the process of cooking up half baked defences! Yes we do know the NOTW is not exactly a sterling enterprise famed for its snow white reporting, in fact it has a number of law suits on it as detailed here. Yes the video above could have been recorded after hours and released to damage Pakistan, but why does NOTW need to do that when we ourselves are hell bent upon murdering our  cricket?

If anyone saw the post match interview, Salman butt looked like a pirhanna found with the said guppy tail sticking out of his mouth. He is an articulate chap, do we seriously believe he would have stammered out replies and not vehemently defended himself and his honor if there was no skeleton in his closet? Do any of us recall that match in sydney when the aussies were leading by 10 runs with two wickets and went on to make an incredible comeback? I want to believe Butt and Co are innocent I really do, but the evidence is too much to swallow, even if it is circumstantial.

The fixer claims he has been allegedly working with “our team” for 7 years and I am really sorry but there is no difference in fixing a match or fixing for a noball, let us also not also forget the two reviews salman butt did not make in this same innings on broad and co which would have led to their departure much earlier as they were OUT! The fact remains that fixing is prevalent in cricket and must be erased from all teams for the sanctity of the game and to me this incident is going to be the tip of the iceberg, I would not be surprised if more and more people were implicated.

Now what remains to be seen is what the ICC will do with our team, as a fan I would side in the favor of a complete examination and banning for lifetime of any player whatever his value (sorry aamir but fuk off)  found to be involved in this. As a Pakistani I would suggest nay I would plead that our team be suspended from ICC status so we can either wake the hell up and get our house in order or stay home.

Whatever is the cost, the truth must come out now. There is not going to be any half measure in this world capable of soothing the misery we fans are in!

Update :

Police find wads of money in our players rooms perhaps the English media smuggled those in also