Spot fixing: Where now for Pakistan?

It hardly needs me to comment on the spot fixing scandal, everyone and their dog has had their say on the matter and there's not much more for me to add.

Its an extraordinarily sad situation, Pakistan cricket was in a pretty dire state as it was - the shambles of a tour in Australia earlier this year in which they lost every single match across all formats and then the bans and arguments that ensued did nothing for the team.  Add to that the fact that they cannot play any cricket in their home country and you do not have a happy cocktail.

We don't know all of the facts in this situation yet but suffice it to say it doesn't look good, the no balls were delivered bang on time and looked thoroughly deliberate, particularly on the part of Amir.  We don't know how the situation came about and whether certain players were strong-armed into being a part of this, that will come out in the wash but it doesn't look good.

It will be a huge loss, not just for Pakistan but for cricket in general if Amir is found to be at fault.  He is clearly a wonderful talent and as it stands probably one of the best two or three bowlers in the world.  His new ball partner Mohammad Asif isn't regarded with a great deal of affection it seems but you can't deny that he's a magnificent player, a true craftsman of a bowler as I read somewhere the other day.

As for the rest, Salman Butt, the Akmals, Umar Amin and more have all been implicated to a greater or lesser extent but as it stands all we know is that they are allegations.  You have to hope that the allegations prove unfounded but if that isn't the case (and that seems massively unlikely at this stage!) then Pakistan Cricket and the ICC need to make sure that root and branch reform takes place, these people cannot be allowed to infect world cricket like this ever again.