England V Pakistan Cricket series

[Will2911]

The Controversial Cricket series fought between England and Pakistan is drawing to a close today. The one Day international series currently lies at 2-2, I am hoping that England can pull victory out of the bag, but even if they do, I still think that any win is massively tainted.

I don't know if anyone on here follows the Cricket, but obviously the current Pakistani tour of England has degenerated into little more than a verbal tug of war.

For all those not in the know, there have been several allegations of spot fixing, with the first instance being in the 4th Test match. Pakistani Players were accused of deliberatley bowling 3 no bowls for money, by the News of The World paper.

Several farcical weeks then followed with the ICC, first saying it wouldn't suspend the players, then doing exactly that the following day.

The one day series also fell into controversy, when Pakistani players were again accused of fixing, this time by conforming to predicted scorring patterns.

England have not been free of accusation either, with the head of the Pakistani Cricket board accusing them of Match fixing. However England Captain Andrew Strauss has refuted the claims, and England are planning to sue for deformation.

To top it all off, there was an Incident at Lords on Monday where, England Batsman, Johnathan Trott threw his pads at Pakistani players, after an altercation.

I am wondering what people think about the whole issue, and what opinion is of the scandal. Personally I am of the opinion that any player found guillty of cheating should be given a life time ban. Allowing players to get away with such behaviour would ruin the sport.

I do not think the series should of been cancelled, and I hope it can all be put in the past ready for a succsesful Ashes tour this winter

 

[Octarine]

I agree with the suggestion of lifetime bans. Matchfixing simply ruins the sport.
The Aus vs Pak tour had similar controversy.

 

[Will2911]

It seems like Pakistan can't escape controversy, when they last toured England there was the suggestion that they tampered with the balls. The match was abandoned, if I recall correctly, as the Pakistanis refused to play on.

I do think that the News of The World must take some blame here, it deliberatley ensnared young players and easy targets into a dangerous and stupid practice. There is no defending what they did, and I never will, but I really can't stand the practises of that horrid paper