Pakistan cricket in crisis…the reasons why

Allegations of corruption within the ranks of the Pakistan cricket team have plunged the game of cricket into its darkest days over the past couple of weeks. These allegations appear to have plenty evidence to back them up too. Pakistan cricket has been here before with allegations of match fixing, ball tampering and corruption a regular occurrence over the past couple of decades.

A period of change followed and Pakistan cricket has worked hard to clean up its act in recent years. Issues away from cricket now dominate the headlines as Pakistan has been banned from hosting international cricket events for the foreseeable future due to security issues in their country.

The England and Wales Cricket Board offered them hope by allowing them to play their ‘home’ matches in England. With the allegations that have been brought to light by the News of the World recently, my guess is that Giles Clarke and his cronies at the ECB wish they hadn’t bothered.

So why has Pakistan cricket slumped to new depths? While it’s important not to make excuses for the acts of the Pakistan players involved, a closer look makes it easy to see why they did what they did.

Wages: A recent study of international cricketers revealed that Pakistan’s international regulars were among the poorest paid players in World cricket. At around £20,000 per year, these cricketers are never going to become wealthy fast. This figure is around ¼ of what the English equivalent earns in a year.

This for me needs addressing by the PCB and the ICC. While living costs are much less in Pakistan, there still ought to be a more level playing field and more sponsorship money filtered down to the players. It’s only a year ago since West Indian cricketers went on strike over how little sponsorship money was being passed on to them.

Indian Premier League: Since the invention of Twenty20 cricket, Pakistan has been one of the front-runners in the game. They won the World Twenty20 at Lord’s in 2009 and have some of the most explosive batsmen in World cricket.

For two years running Pakistani players haven’t been allowed to compete in the IPL, the reasons for which are unclear and open for debate. Put yourself in the shoes of a Pakistan cricketer. In what is a relatively short career he wants to represent his country while earning money to set him up for the rest of his life. He can see players from all over the World earning tens of thousands of pounds playing in the IPL, he’s one of the best Twenty20 players in the World…but he has to watch from home on his meagre £20,000 salary. Unfair? Definitely.

The reasons stated above may seem like excuses, but for me they are facts. Again I’ll say that what these cricketers have taken part in is totally unacceptable and they should take whatever punishment comes their way. However, I can’t help but feel that had they not been treated so badly over the above issues then cricket might not be in this mess right now.

Would Salman Butt have really taken any notice of an offer of £10,000 for spot fixing if he was paid the same as England players, or if he was fresh from a lucrative spell in the Indian Premier League? No, because £10,000 would seem like small change.

That said, it’s been far too easy for spot fixing to take place. The person behind it all is the player’s agent. Surely the PCB and the ICC should be vetting who exactly is allowed to represent players?

One of the few players not implicated is Shahid Afridi. He’s not represented by the agent in question and he has no reason to get involved in spot fixing. Why? Because he has played in the IPL in the past and he has lucrative sponsorship deals to make him a wealthy man for the rest of his life. He was given the nickname ‘Boom boom Afridi’ for his big-hitting style of batting. Pakistan’s kit is now sponsored by a company adopting that name, making Afridi one of the wealthiest sportsmen his country has ever seen.

With Afridi an inspiration to the players in and around the Pakistan team, they aspire to be the next ‘Boom Boom Afridi’ and will seemingly do whatever it takes to match what he, and so many others are earning on the international stage.