Cricket

i feel perspective has been jettisoned. people calling for a life-ban on aamer. wtf. cricketers have done SO much worse and come back within months!

I'm with you on this one

im not

There's a turn up

it's a fucking criminal conspiracy LJ. just because the MCC and the preface to the rules of cricket have got it covered doesn't mean it's not of interest to the CPS/the state. up to cricket if they want to ban him, but there's a bigger issue.

cricketers have done SO much worse and come back within months!

and that's why it keeps happening!

xp
caek OTM

the state should fuck off and leave my sport alone. yeah ok there's betting corruption at play - this is a different issue, and is unrelated to the cricket itself - not that the bookmakers have been substantially defrauded or that anybody is really the victim of this, except the young dude who did it because his two most obvious father-figures within the squad were doing so. let him off with a warning. sometimes the law is an overly literal ass. by sometimes i mean 'all the time'.

and age is no excuse.
If he gets let off then other kids will get targeted and be told that theres no risk as they wont get a life ban.

fucks sake

you've got no heart

corrupt cricketers should fuck off and leave evertones sport alone

everyones

The Evertones <---------- surely a doowop group??!!??!

scapegoating is the most barbaric fucking thing and you'd think we'd be over it by now but no

yeah lets all let cheats do what they like and let them away with it

are you ian wright?

i get your point LJ that in the context of cricket the specific thing they did didn't really affect the game and in a weird sense isn't that big of a deal.

on the other hand, they were part of a criminal conspiracy to defraud. if they were under pressure or are being scapegoated in some way then presumably that will come out in the trial. saying nobody is really a victim of a gambling conspiracy is ridiculous: (1) there are truly victimless crimes that are still crimes (2) had it worked, this would not have been a victimless crime.

it's heartbreaking w/ amir but ppl shld know if u go down this road u may never play again

it's just not cricket

caek totally otm again

basically, this shit has been happening CEASELESSLY, especially w/ the Pakistan cricket team, since the 90s. don't blame the individuals, blame the system. help the individuals. sure, punish them or whatever for their conspiracy (although what sort of punishment could fit something as puny as this? in fact when does state punishment ever really work DIFFERENT THREAD), but don't ban the kid who was 18 from ever playing again! he's not the problem! what kind of message does THAT send anyway - 'don't trust anybody or you'll end up banned'

ffs

no, let's NOT let people ride roughshod over the systems of betting (unless they're robert redford amirite) to gain an unfair advantage over those unaware of the conspiracy, and let's combat this by stripping them of their illicit earnings, but unless they're either cheating (which this ISN'T, you're being very crude in your analysis) or destroying the competitive element of sport, or fostering (i.e. not naively participating in) a climate of dishonesty, they are still an asset to the game.

let's be clear, I am all for the PCB handing out life-bans to Asif and Butt, fuck them

don't fuck around, play cricket, is the msg

you cant let one guy off just because he is a special player. what kind of message does that give out??

banning those two and keeping aamer is a positive message. 'we forgive those who were led into corruption, but we cannot forgive those who lead there'* - it's not that aamer is a more special player (asif is just as good) but it's that HE'S A KID

*I am all for eventual forgiveness here too but it'd be very hard to imagine these two trusted on a cricket field again, especially Asif with his record

don't fuck around, play cricket, is the msg

― zvookster, Friday, February 4, 2011 2:56 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

good message.

you cant have one rule for some and another for others. It will just lead to kids being targeted by crooks being told dont worry they wont ban you due to your age.

and yes, a very good message.

We don't know the ins and outs of this case yet, if there's a sort of Cronje figure (or figures) leading the others astray, do we?

lj how do you know so much about the details of the internal structure of the conspiracy? is there a good article i could read? or were you involved?

18 y.o. is plenty old enough to take responsibility for your actions in a criminal case. obviously the punishment may be influenced by things like age, but no idea why cricket would be different.

It will just lead to kids being targeted by crooks being told dont worry they wont ban you due to your age

Except in all likelihood, Aamer wasn't targeted by the crooks directly, but through the senior players.

I've been reading Cricinfo, don't have much more detail to hand. Am going mostly on gut feeling. Samiuddin is a great writer: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/current/story/499507.html

Am going mostly on gut feeling.

pro-tip: not a good idea for an LJ unless he's learning to troll again.

well yknow I get very emotional about these things. aamer needs a (1) break, then we can talk practicalities.

5 year ban? absolute bullshit. Will probably get overturned too. You can cheat and resume your career in a few years , great example sent out to youngsters.

get over yourself

he didn't cheat the game of cricket

5 years is harsh on Amir, should have been 2 or 3 at most. either that or 'a final warning'

pfunkboy you see everything through the same fire-and-brimstone lens, please try and get some perspective about this

surprised and pleased to see the other two aren't life-banned, although this effectively ends their playing careers

anyone watching the final?

listening.

Off to see Fire in Babylon tonight. Friend saw it at the film festival last year and said it was excellent.

Fire In Babylon looks amazing. I hope it gets a decent release. As a lifelong West Indies fan, the trailer alone is pretty emotional.

Not a West Indies fan as such, but yes, also get emotional about the period. I know the reduced participation of subsequent generations of the West Indian diaspora in cricket, both as players and spectators, is down to a lot of different things, but it's always a cause of anger to me the way that English cricket, esp at the Oval, has done absolutely nothing to try to maintain or encourage locals to come and see the cricket, and instead rammed the prices up and made the purchasing of tickets a matter of booking as far in advance as possible.

Causes for hope - One of the things I like about the current West Indian team is that they have several talented players who seem very enthusiastic and keen to win - Bishoo, Darren Bravo esp. Some thrilling players, and I hope the one-day results are reflected in the Tests as I think most cricket fans would like to see a strong Windies team.

Apparently the film's being made mandatory viewing for all West Indies cricketers. Bravo and Bishoo both have huge potential and seem to have the right attitude. The real frustration since the mid-1990s is that there has never really been a lack of ability in the squad. There's a lot of talk about basketball taking the place of cricket in schools throughout the region but cricket remains hugely important and that's reflected in the raw talent that so many young players show. What's missing has been leadership and mental toughness. That's down in part to the players but also the fault of the shambolic organisation of the team. I'll keep the faith though.

Sri Lanka making this match interesting with an impressive collapse.

Wow.

oh my

love to see this in test cricket

http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/133500/133562.jpg

England are going to win this :-)

They definitely are now. LJ sorely missed.

He certainly knew his cricket.

hahahaha the crowd look like morons now

well played india

im assuming it came from 'upstairs' in India's association. Id bet strauss woulda appealed but the ecb/mcc woulda gone nutso. LJ if youre reading this, i bet you think dhoni was right to appeal but had strauss done so you would have taken the opposite view ;)

I was in the crowd today at Nottingham. Pretty amazing stuff- we didn't know what was going on until Bell walked out again, then everyone started clapping, which was a strangely moving experience.