Spot Fixing Scandal Thread: The Legend Continues

[pcfan123]

Perhaps all this highlights is what I was saying, that the real problem is bookies - no gambling = no temptation = no match fixing

Thats a crock of shitt.

No betting = illegal gambling = way more problems and no regulation.

Just look at India and Pakistan. Making sports betting illegal does not make people stop, it makes the situation way more out of control.

England and Australia have no issues with match fixing and sports betting is legal there.

 

[Insomniac]

All they have is a sample size of 2 overs, I really don't see anything coming out of it.

 

[Ollie_H]

All they have is a sample size of 2 overs, I really don't see anything coming out of it.

I would say that at the moment, ZexyZahid has more reliability than you do.

I'm not sure what is more disgraceful at the moment, Pakistan spot-fixing whilst others have been suspended and their country flooded. Or the ECB thinking it's somehow alright for the tour to continue after MORE ALLEGATIONS.

 

[Sureshot]

Nah, I think tours should continue regardless of allegations. Would be way too easy for people to stop a tour if you started setting a precedent.

 

[angryangy]

No betting = illegal gambling = way more problems and no regulation.

Just look at India and Pakistan. Making sports betting illegal does not make people stop, it makes the situation way more out of control.

Which is the entire issue. Regulated betting is not a target market for spot fixers. If you've got 150k to buy information, you're not going to drop 300k on Bet365. You'd get spotted. The money is clearly changing hands in some illegal system, a bookmaker who neither cares how much you bet nor why. People like Mazhar Majeed are not a sign of the flaws of a decadent western society, they're a sign that given enough money, the influence of corruption extends well beyond any one nation's borders.

 

[pcfan123]

Nah, I think tours should continue regardless of allegations. Would be way too easy for people to stop a tour if you started setting a precedent.

These are pretty serious allegations though. I'd go as far as to call them proven allegations for the Lord's Test. I don't buy this bullshit Pakistani definition of guilt.

Credit to the England guys for playing on and not saying anything. This tour is tantamount to inviting a guest to your house and remaining civil while they piss all over your nice things.

 

[Sureshot]

Whilst I think they are some serious questions that need answering, cancelling the tour is only going to exacerbate the problems and create a worse image for the sport.

We will have to start to seriously question the participation of Pakistan as a full member of the ICC imo, but we shouldn't do that during a tour, even if potential spot fixing has occured within that tour. I think we should be certain before we take action, this 2nd investigation is an unknown to all of us, it's private. First one, yes, the evidence looks damning. But I wouldn't put it past the gutter press to make it up, I think it unlikely, but you have to be sure of these kind of things.

 

[ferg512]

it makes it worse that they are going back to play at Lords in the next game. If these things all are true I cant believe they have the guts to step onto the hallow turf.

 

[pcfan123]

It's not hallowed to all, that is the problem. Some people have no respect for the game.

 

[Insomniac]

I would say that at the moment, ZexyZahid has more reliability than you do.

I'm not sure what is more disgraceful at the moment, Pakistan spot-fixing whilst others have been suspended and their country flooded. Or the ECB thinking it's somehow alright for the tour to continue after MORE ALLEGATIONS.

It's an ODI, and it's Pakistan.

Assuming all the other games haven't been fixed, Pakistan's innings usually go like this:

First 10 overs, lose 2-3 wickets, and score 40ish runs (we scored about 30).

Then the next 10-20 overs, Pakistan rebuild and lose 1 wicket usually.

Then the last 20 overs, Pakistan try to get a big total.

It doesn't take a bookie to figure that out. What I'm saying is, there wasn't anything 'shocking' in this game - except a maiden over played by Umar Gul towards the end of the innings, but he was genuinely missing balls.

So suppousedly there's a sample of 2 overs that fit in with the 'prediction' - while the others didn't come true.

Now let's talk about overs 39 and 40 - which are suppousedly the 2 in question as stated by the Daily Telegraph.

In over 39, 5 runs were scored off of Yardy. Sounds reasonable.

In over 40, only 2 runs were scored - it was the over which involved the bizarre run out of Afridi. Now Afridi is the greatest cricket player alive, but I do not think he is capable of engineering that wicket. Razzaq had 10 overs to play with, and if he got out, we'd have been doomed. But he played 2 dot balls, then took a single, and Umar Gul played the last ball of the over for a dot. I fail to see any 'fixing' going on, other than hearsay.

England's innings is more suspect in all actuality, having lost 5 wickets for just 17 runs.

 

[pcfan123]

England's innings is more suspect in all actuality, having lost 5 wickets for just 17 runs.

You obviously don't watch much English cricket. That is textbook England.

Mark added 0 Minutes and 46 Seconds later...

We don't actually know what info the Sun gave the ICC. It must have been pretty damn specific for the ICC to launch an investigation.

 

[Insomniac]

You obviously don't watch much English cricket. That is textbook England.

Mark added 0 Minutes and 46 Seconds later...

We don't actually know what info the Sun gave the ICC. It must have been pretty damn specific for the ICC to launch an investigation.

I realise that, but that is the most bizarre part of this ODI if anything.

Here's the Daily Telegraph article in which they believe it is overs 39 and 40 which are under investigation. Pakistan match-fixing claims: the mystery of Pakistan’s two slow overs - Telegraph

 

[TumTum]

Now Afridi is the greatest cricket player alive, but I do not think he is capable of engineering that wicket.

But he is smart enough to bite balls & jump on pitches in-front of the whole world :laugh

Wouldn't surprise me tbh if Afridi did this on purpose.

 

[King Cricket]

I hate Pakistanis, they have totally ruined the game.

Other nations can't afford to be complacent though. We still don't know how big this whole nexus is as very little information has trickled down as of now from the ICC, PCB, Scotland Yard and other relevant bodies. Just two days back Mervyn Westfield of England was charged with spot fixing and yesterday, India's Irfan Pathan revealed that he was approached by bookies during the 2006 tour of Pakistan. With the number of players making such revelations, it won't be surprising if the spot-fixing issue snowballs to something big in the next few days.

I was just reading a few articles on net where it was clearly shown how tournaments like the IPL, or English county matches are greatly vulnerable to the attack of illegal bookmakers. In case of the latter, the relatively low profile of the matches makes it easy for cricketers to indulge in illegitimate activities, and in case of the former, it's the glitz, glamour and the money. So, to be sanctimonious and make statements like what I have quoted is just wrong at this point of time, as all nations, starting from Australia to India, have been haunted by the ghosts of illegal betting and match fixing at some point of time or the other.

England and Australia have no issues with match fixing and sports betting is legal there.
__________________

No issues? Sorry Mark, but that's not how it is. Sure, in England, Australia and other countries, corruption in sports may not be such widespread and brazen like Pakistan, but I'm afraid every nation is more or less affected by these kind of stuff. Clouds of match fixing are hovering over English county cricket, with one player already indicted. As for Australia, I suggest you go through this article:

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket...incorruptible-20100831-14fm8.html?autostart=1

Betting/match fixing is like a plague. Once it spreads, there's no stopping it. Whether you legalize bookmaking or not hardly matters then.

 

[irottev]

Pakistan Team are scum. They should all be banned for life tbh. I don't want to watch those low lifes play anymore. They can't be trusted anymore.

Strip them of their status already.