Spot checks

With the wreckage of the careers of Salman Butt,Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir steered in for a decisive public viewing after a London court this week found them guilty in a spot-fixing case,there is decided overhang of sadness and loss. While the jury is still out on whether this is a healthy development that will more surely deter others,its also a reminder of the state of Pakistans cricket.

Match-fixing or spot-fixing,in which the manipulation is limited to a particular turn in play,like a no-ball by even a single player calls the entire team to account. Fellowship in any sport may be over-romanticised,but Test cricket thrives on a particular sort of trust. In the course of five days,a single player is exposed to many different ways in which his action could adversely affect the fortunes of his mates in batting,running,fielding,bowling,keeping,even in choosing to return for a few recuperative minutes while his team is fielding. Its impossible to determine whether any of these is deliberate yet cricketers have an instinct for a poor effort on account of lack of application. To have one of their own,therefore,be shown to be trading his moves for money can severely deplete the reserve of collective goodwill so essential for a team effort.

Confirmation of fixing can also destroy the teams and if pervasive,the sports credibility with the spectator. India negotiated that threat a decade ago and that threat was based more on notion than factual confirmation of the sort available for Butt,Asif and Amir. Pakistan cricket has for too long put off dealing the elephant in the room and the conviction in the London court comes at a time when its capacity to absorb more reverses is particularly low. An unprofessional cricket establishment has hollowed out domestic cricket,and the security situation has shifted Pakistans home matches to neutral venues. Yet a clean-up and a mechanism for mentoring its young,and so exceptionally talented,players cannot be postponed any more.