It really seems that the British media will always be suspicious of Pakistan’s cricket team. Not only when they lose, but also when they win! This has just been proved by the British tabloid called “The Sun” , that has claimed they have proof the third one-day international between Pakistan and England at Oval was fixed.
It seems that the British media is at it again, trying to make to make this already controversial tour of England even more unbearable for Pakistan’s cricketers.What does not make sense is that Pakistan won that match, and it was not a comfortable win, it was a nail-biting match, where the results could have gone either way. Why would Pakistan fix a match that they are going to win? And how can such a close match possibly be fixed?
Hypothetically speaking, if this match was fixed, the only team that should rationally come under suspicion should be England. The reason for that of course is that first of all, England lost the match, and second they did not make full use of their power play. The England team, logically speaking, should have taken the power play when their two settled batsmen were at the crease and a few shots here and there would have insured their victory.
Also, Luke Wright was not able to capitalize on the occasion, he was the only batsman who could make it happen for the English side, and he should have played a more dominating role. Even though he was 48 not out by the end of the match and had played really well to anchor England’s inning, he did not deliver in the crucial innings of the match. He even missed out on a couple of full tosses that he could have easily put away. This is not to suggest that England might have fixed the match, the British media has already brought the standards of journalism low enough.
All this suggests is that the English side can equally share suspicions of match fixing with Pakistan’s side. But the British media would take home advantage away from its cricketers and may even demoralise their players before the crucial upcoming Ashes series in Australia.
According to many cricket experts, the British media has always been biased and harsh towards the Asian teams, and Pakistan in particular. This seems to be a routine for the British media since the tour of England back in 1992, when the Pakistan cricket team was led by the legendary cricketer, Imran Khan. At that time, Pakistan was bowling brilliantly and the Pakistani bowlers were successful in making the ball reverse swing. The British players and media pounced at the occasion and said that the Pakistani bowlers and players were tampering with the ball in order to make it swing.
Now in 2010, first the spot-fixing allegations by the News of The World (NOTW) managed to sideline three of Pakistan’s best players, which included the two best bowlers on the side, Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif, creating a huge void in the team. The NOTW alleged that the last Test match of Pakistan and England at Lord’s was spot fixed. The players are yet to be proven guilty, and their absence in the team has been greatly felt.
The latest British media allegation is that the third one-day international has also been fixed by Pakistan. It seems as if the British media have a habit of putting Pakistan’s cricket players in jeopardy, and of creating doubts in the minds of cricket fans about the integrity of cricket. Is Britain’s middle class media taking out its resentment of the upper classes on the gentleman’s game?
On the other hand, Pakistan’s cricket management don’t seem to be bothered as the present chairman Ijaz Butt and team manager Yawar Saeed, have made little effort to defend the Pakistan’s cricket players. They are supposed to be vocal and assertive when such accusations are imposed on their team. But they seem to be passive observers and have been taken a back seat during the whole issue. Their reluctance to get involved has hurt, rather than helped, Pakistan cricket’s cause.
