The ghost of Hansie Cronje loomed large over the Lord's Test match as spot-fixing allegations catapulted the game of cricket onto the front page of newspapers around the world. More on that in a minute. First, here's the Five Minute Test Match, with as little as possible wasted on the latest controversy:
England 446 (Trott 184, Broad 169, Mohammad Aamer 6-84) beat Pakistan 74 (Swann 4-12) and 147 (Umar Akmal 79*, Swann 5-62) by an innings and 225 runs
On the first day of this series, Michael Atherton commented on Sky Sports that he loved watching and playing in past England-Pakistan series because of the amount of controversy and talking points which they seemed to throw up. He then expressed a wish that this series had "lots of controversy". Happy now Michael?
This is not my report of the events, that is what BBC News is for. This is simply me adding my opinion to the melting pot. First of all, I don't really know why the News of the World felt it necessary to stick their oar in as usual - it's a well-known fact that their priority is making money by manufacturing sensationalist headlines, rather than appealing to an intellectual readership. One could draw parallels between this and the behaviour of certain Pakistani cricketers. Another person who shouldn't have got involved so quickly is Imran Khan. This guy is far too fiery to be a politician, and his wish for all those implicated to be immediately banned for life is one made with an angry heart rather than his head. The PCB has thrown out life bans before and look how they turned out - they were practically begging for Mohammad Yousuf to come back! The police need time to complete their investigation and present the facts, rather than a series of allegations, before any sanctions can be brought before the accused players. I've commented before in this series on spot-fixing and how stupid and petty it is from a player's persepctive and I stand by that. To jeopardise one's potentially glittering career with deliberate no-balls is ludicrous, particuarly when there are millions of eyes watching your every move.
We do not know the circumstances in which the players were approached - were threats made of them, either physically or to their place in the side? Or were they simply offered cash and were daft enough to accept? Let us all calm down and examine things logically before we come to any conclusions. This goes for the people of Pakistan too - put the burning effigies out for the time being and look at the bigger picture - what is more important - the flooding affecting 14 million people, or 3 moments in a sporting event which were pre-determined? Remember what is important in life - sport is not everything.
Briefly now on the County Championship - where Nottinghamshire strengthened their position at the top thanks to a generous declaration from Lancashire - a chase of 261 was achieved on the last day in 55 overs with 3 wickets remaining. Alex Hales was the hero with 98 and 93 in his two innings in the match. This young lad has been a revelation at the top of the order, and his individual efforts here have probably broken the challenges of those around Notts at the top. He is my Victoria Sponge LAD for this week. Somerset posted 400 against holders Durham at Taunton, with Craig Kieswetter making his first runs in ages, but the rain was pretty persistent for 4 days and the match ended in a soggy draw, taking our hopes and dreams of a maiden Championship all but out of reach.
RM
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