A Sad Day for Cricket and Pakistan

Let's get something straight. No nation loves its cricket more than Pakistan. It is the number one sport over there by a distance and in virtually every street at any given time you will find a game going on.

There is widespread anger at the spot-fixing antics of three cricketers - Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir - that led to their imprisonment yesterday.

Their greed has tarnished the great game of cricket and there are few who do not believe the penalty was necessary to deter others from corrupting the game any more.

But from my experiences in Pakistan I only hope the actions of a few fail to quell the enthusiasm felt for the game. Ten years ago I was a guest of Jansher Khan, the great, multilple world champion squash player, in the city of Peshawar close to the Afghan border.

One day in the street outside Khan's house I saw a small game of cricket taking place with a bunch of kids. I asked if I could play and within moments the game's numbers had quelled from six to 30 as the locals came out to play with the strange, red-haired Englishman.

No quarter was asked, and none given either as they all transformed into fast bowlers or wickedly spinning slow bowlers, and when my wicket fell they celebrated as if they had just claimed the world cup.

Tea followed at a nearby house and the game just finished was reviewed with almost microscopic detail. It is a happy cricketing memory of a beautiful country, far removed from the stench of corruption now pervading.

I hope that, sooner or later, the joy of cricket can return to Pakistan and the world. The people deserve it, even if three players do not.