Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer were the three names that no matter how badly Pakistan performed still gave us some hope.
Butt – the stylish left-handed batsmen. We were constantly reminded of the legendary left-handed openers we’ve had in that past. All of us secretly, if not openly, hoped that Butt will go on to be the Saeed Anwar and the Aamir Sohail of the future.
Asif – the inch-perfect assassin. Early in his career, he was said to be the Glenn McGrath of Pakistan and time and again he proved his doubters hopelessly wrong. His line and length was deadly supported with a hint of movement and the world’s best batsmen were caught behind the stumps all too often.
Aamer – the rebirth of Wasim Akram. Although much smaller in physique and much younger than what I remember, but the left-hander had all the potential to be like the Sultan of Swing. The barely legal bowler carries a big smile and near-infinite amount of energy at his disposal and whether it was bumping into Clarke and Ponting or leaving batsmen bamboozled.
These three careers have been hit with a nuclear bomb of a scandal that could lead to a lifetime ban to the players who have the potential to achieve it all.
Especially Muhammad Aamer.
The kid is 18. Sure, he must have heard about the late Hansie Cronje of South Africa, Ajay Jadeja and Muhammad Azharuddin of India and of course Wasim Akram of Pakistan getting the ban after their match fixing antics were discovered. But all of these men had played all the cricket they could.
Aamer has at least ten or even fifteen years of cricket in him. He could not have possibly been going looking for someone. There was someone, probably in the team, who led him to spot fixing.
I don’t know if it’s true or not but right after Pakistan lost the fourth test match to England, it was said that Aamer had never bowled a no-ball in his test career before.
I’m not saying that Aamer is innocent but he did not ruin his innocence himself. Somebody did it for him. You can’t ban Aamer for life and just be done with it. The real culprit must be caught. Middle-men like Mazhar Majeed and the people who are funding these spot-fixtures should be brought to justice.
Aamer is a bowler that has come to international cricket at a very tender age. He’s an asset that many would like to possess and many of those who don’t must be very jealous. All of this could be a set-up. After all, one nation produces one world-class fast bowler after another and their neighbors are as impotent as anyone can be.
Recently, Hansie Cronje’s brother Frans Cronje told MiD DAY how bookies target and lure young players in and then the players end up turning into the culprits. Frans has produced a movie on the life and time of his brother.
He said:
“They (bookies) worked on Hansie for years and years, never taking no for an answer. They are also very clever and sly with the way they lure young players in.
“This is one element that we explore very well in the movie about Hansie.”
43 year old Frans is a former cricketer himself and has played 56 first-class games in South Africa.
Personally, I am looking forward to watching Frans Cronje’s movie and it should uncover the secrets of match fixing that the ICC has failed to uncover since the lid was first blown over the match-fixing scandals in 2000.