CRICKET:THREE FORMER Pakistan international cricketers were led away from the dock in a London court yesterday to begin combined jail sentences totalling four years for their part in the spot-fixing plot in their Test match against England at Lord's last year.
Salman Butt, the Pakistan captain during that Test and a man described by Mr Justice Cooke as “the orchestrator of this activity”, was jailed for 30 months.
Mohammad Asif, who bowled one of three prearranged no-balls at the centre of the conspiracy, was given a year in prison. Mohammad Amir, who at the time of his crime was only 18 years old, was given a six-month sentence. They must serve half of their sentences before release on licence and must do so in English prisons.
It is a heavy price to pay for three men who, as the judge recognised, had until last year been “heroes” for their nation and icons in their sport.
“The (essence) of the offences committed by all four of you is the corruption in which you engaged was in a pastime the very name of which used to be associated with fair dealing on the sporting field,” said the judge. ‘It’s not cricket’ was an adage.”
Butt’s agent, Mazher Majeed, was described by the judge as being equal to Butt as one of two “architects of the fixing”, and was given a 32-month sentence, the heaviest handed down in courtroom four of Southwark crown court, south London. The judge softened what would have been a four-year sentence for Majeed in recognition of his guilty plea.
Amir, who will be sent to a young offenders’ institution to serve his punishment, also pleaded guilty, reducing his sentence from nine to six months.
Although Butt had falsely protested his innocence throughout, his ban from all forms of cricket issued by its world governing body – and extending for at least five years – led the judge to reduce his custodial sentence by 18 months. The two bowlers are serving similar minimum five-year bans from the International Cricket Council.
“That is the punishment imposed by the cricket authorities,” said the judge, “but these crimes of which you have been convicted require that a sentence be imposed which marks them for what they are and acts as a deterrent for any future cricketers who may be tempted.”
Mr Justice Cooke also made plain his concern that the four men’s activity set out “to defraud bookmakers”. The fact that the charges against the four resulted from a sting carried out by the now-closed News of the World Sunday newspaper, did not impact heavily on the sentences issued, since the court heard evidence that Butt, Majeed and Amir were all “discussing such activities outside the scope of the sting”.
The fixing scandal emerged after an undercover News of the World reporter approached Majeed in August last year pretending to be a wealthy Indian businessman seeking major international cricketers for a tournament.
The agent, from Croydon, south London, was secretly filmed accepting £150,000 in cash from the journalist as part of an arrangement to rig games.
Majeed promised the reporter that Asif and Amir would deliver three no-balls at specific points during the Test between Pakistan and England at Lord’s from August 26th to 29th last year.
Guardian Service
