Saturday, February 5, 2011

ICC hands down multi-year bans to Butt, Asif, Amir

CricInfo reports http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/current/story/499614.html

"Salman Butt gets ten years of ineligibility, five years of suspended sentence. Mohammad Asif gets a sanction of 7 years, two years of which are suspended. Mohammad Amir gets a sanction of five years' ineligibility."

So it appears as if each of the players got 5 years ineligibility, with varying length of suspension that would kick in if the player violated any conditions.  Butt's career is over.  Asif's effectively so.  Amir will be only 23-24 when his eligibility is restored, so he could in theory still have a long career ahead of him.  The question is whether he will be able to remain cricket fit, especially if the ban prevents him from playing cricket at any reasonable level.  Also, he may be able to appeal and get his sentence reduced to something like "five years ineligibility, two years of which are suspended" which is effectively 3 years.  Still a very said tale about a resplendent talent, and the only good one can hope for is that this will serve as a salutary warning to other youth who might otherwise be tempted.

Going into a bit more detail from the ICC website http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/newsdetails.php?newsId=13055_1296910620

The Tribunal found that the charge under Article 2.1.1 of the Code that Mr Butt agreed to bat out a maiden over in the Oval Test match played between Pakistan and England from 18 to 21 August 2010 was dismissed, whereas the charge under Article 2.4.2 that Mr Butt failed to disclose to the ICC's ACSU the approach by Mr Majeed that Mr Butt should bat a maiden over in the Oval Test was proved.

The Tribunal found that the charges under Article 2.1.1 of the Code that (respectively) Mr Asif agreed to bowl and did bowl a deliberate no ball in the Lord's Test match played between Pakistan and England from 26 to 29 August 2010, Mr Amir agreed to bowl and did bowl two deliberate no balls in the same Test, and Mr Butt was party to the bowling of those deliberate no balls, were proved.

I'm sure the Crown prosecutors would want the transcripts of the proceedings and the various depositions from the defendants -- but I'm not sure those are admissible.  After all, they would violate the right against self-incrimination. 

There is one ray of hope.  The Tribunal notes that "The Tribunal has recommended to the ICC certain changes to the Code with a view to providing flexibility in relation to minimum sentences in exceptional circumstances."

Clearly, this implies that they would have strongly considered a sentence less than the mandatory minimum (presumably 5 years ineligibility) for at least one of the defendants due to "exceptional circumstances."  Hopefully, this means Amir may get some support from the Tribunal upon appeal to get his ban reduced to less than 5 years...

Bharat

Friday, February 4, 2011

Crown charges Butt, Asif & Aamir plus Majid; Trial to start March 17

BBC News broke into their wall-to-wall coverage of the Cairo crisis to just report that the Crown prosecution service has decided to charge the 3 Pakistani players, Butt, Asif, & Aamir & their agent Majid for "conspiracy to cheat" & "conspiracy to accept corrupt payments."  Not only are the players charged, the CPS said that if they don't return to the UK, they will demand their extradition from Pakistan.

This is BIG news.  The ICC panel is due to rule tomorrow, and I wonder if they had a hint of this timing, and so delayed their announcement.  If not, maybe they will delay their ruling, because it will surely be prejudicial (one way or another) to the Crown's case.  With the World Cup just 15 days, this will dominate the headlines for a while.

Quite a turn of events.  The trial is scheduled to start on March 17 -- right in the final stages of the round-robin for the World Cup, and before the KO's.  This will certainly dominate the cricket headlines as it coincides with cricket's highest-profile event.  Whoever is orchestrating it, by announcing this just before the ICC tribunal makes its ruling, and having the trial start right in the thick of the World Cup, certainly has a keen sense of drama and a nose for timing.

Bharat