Where to now for Pakistan?

[pakster]

Would prefer that to this. Are u seriously suggesting rest of the cricketing world (and a majority of betrayed poor Pak fans) should continue to tolerate the antics of this Pakistan team/players/Board??

Of course the antics need to be dealt with, but if the ICC is too harsh on Pakistan (ie 12 month ban on all cricket) we may find it hard to emerge from the doldrums. World cricket will be poorer for it, as it was when the Zimbabwe team became a joke. There has to be a way to put an end to the antics, whilst still ensuring the team remains competitive. We can sit here and call for Pakistan to be banned from test series for X number of years, but the long term implications of such a ban would be very damaging.

Nobody expects the ROTW to put up with Pakistan in it's current state, I'm just saying that meting out excessive punishments willy nilly will be bad for the game.

 

[pakster]

Yea it can, because Pakistani cricket has shown that stuff like this is the alternative. I would not miss Pakistan at this point.

For argument's sake, say, tomorrow, the Pakistani government decide to disband the PCB and call for an end to all investment in Pakistani cricket. No more Pakistani team. No more Pakistani cricketers. No more Pakistani involvement in International cricket. Would this be a desirable outcome for you?

This will not happen, of course. But if the right approach is not taken to fix this problem, we may very well end up with a Pakistan team on par with the likes of Zimbabwe.

 

[silentstriker]

Would this be a desirable outcome for you?

Yes. For the forseeable future.

 

[Goughy]

I completely understand Pakistan fans feeling short changed by their players and the prospect of the team they support missing a lot of cricket.

However, outside of Pakistan cricket and its supporters, World cricket loses nothing if Pakistan doesnt play. Sure there are a few players that may no longer get exposure but in no way would it hurt any of the other nations or cricket itself if Pakistan wasnt involved.

For too long Pakistan and its cricketers have been the basketcase of cricket and given they cant host cricket, cant be relied upon to fulfil their contractual obligations overseas without drama and basically cause a ****storm whereever they tour then it could be a case of 'less is more' in international cricket.

As I said, I sympathise with the supporters but I see nothing but greener pastures for world cricket if Pakistan isnt involved. Enough already.

 

[AaronK]

Ban Pakistan from all International Cricket for at least 12 months, until they can get their house in order. Pakistan have been given far too many chances over the years. From consistently being one of the most corrupt cricketing nations in the world, to having shoddy administration practices and politics in every aspect of their game.

In addition they've had such poor security in their home games that resulted in the attack on the Sri Lankan team and have had a constant revolving door of players, captains and coaches over the past few years. I think it's time to give them a break from International Cricket as sadly they do not currently deserve a place in International Cricket.

This..

I am a big pakistani cricket fan who is tired of seeing pakistani team involved in one controversy after another..

the oath taking, ball tempering, infighting, drug use and steriods, match fixing, Spot fixing and every single dirty trick that has beeen part of the game or hasn't been part of the game in the past have been done by pakistani team..

there is no room for all these crimes in the great game of cricket

apparently, it seems like PCB and the likes of Ijaz Butt and yawar Saeed have been involved all along.. Shahid Afridi complained to them about match fixing during the England tour and the first test match against Aus... He was ignored.. he retird in protest.. now after watching some of his interviews.. i understand some of his comments that seemed mysterious to me at that point.

so there is no hope for any betterment..

I say ban them for 2 years and let them sort things out..

 

[SJS]

Ban Pakistan from all International Cricket for at least 12 months, until they can get their house in order. Pakistan have been given far too many chances over the years. From consistently being one of the most corrupt cricketing nations in the world, to having shoddy administration practices and politics in every aspect of their game.
.

How about banning IPL in that case ??

 

[G.I.Joe]

How about banning IPL in that case ??

I'd support that.

 

[SJS]

I'd support that.

That makes two of us

 

[Neil Pickup]

That makes two of us

Three

 

[Furball]

For the reasons stated above, I think it does. International cricket cannot afford to lose another team. Unless, of course, you are satisfied with watching the same four or five teams over and over.

International cricket won't be poorer if they chucked out Pakistan.

Would you seriously argue that the world is a poorer place because we were deprived of Heath Streak and Andy Flower for a couple of years as a result of the political situation in Zimbabwe?

 

[Furball]

Of course the antics need to be dealt with, but if the ICC is too harsh on Pakistan (ie 12 month ban on all cricket) we may find it hard to emerge from the doldrums. World cricket will be poorer for it, as it was when the Zimbabwe team became a joke. There has to be a way to put an end to the antics, whilst still ensuring the team remains competitive. We can sit here and call for Pakistan to be banned from test series for X number of years, but the long term implications of such a ban would be very damaging.

Nobody expects the ROTW to put up with Pakistan in it's current state, I'm just saying that meting out excessive punishments willy nilly will be bad for the game.

How exactly?

The human aspect aside, I can't say that there's been a moment in the last 5 years where I've wished that we could have a late 90s era competitive Zimbabwe.

 

[pakster]

How exactly?

The human aspect aside, I can't say that there's been a moment in the last 5 years where I've wished that we could have a late 90s era competitive Zimbabwe.

Really? Granted, I haven't lost any sleep over it, but I certainly do think it was a big blow for the game when Zimbabwe's promise slowly ebbed away. It goes without saying that having more competitive teams and more competitive players raises the standards of cricket considerably, as well as making it more interesting. One of the wonderful things about international football, is that you have within the region of 30-40 national teams who play to a very high standard.

 

[Furball]

Really? Granted, I haven't lost any sleep over it, but I certainly do think it was a big blow for the game when Zimbabwe's promise slowly ebbed away. It goes without saying that having more competitive teams and more competitive players raises the standards of cricket considerably, as well as making it more interesting. One of the wonderful things about international football, is that you have within the region of 30-40 national teams who play to a very high standard.

Completely untrue.

 

[pakster]

Completely untrue.

It's pretty true. We saw very few one sided games in the recent footballing world cup, and even relatively small footballing nations such as serbia and Cote D'ivoire are no pushovers. Compare this to the abundance of one-sided matches we see in cricket world cups and you get a good idea of how much more competitive smaller footballing nations are than their cricketing counterparts.

That aside, my original point stands. More test playing nations, playing at a high quality standard, is better for the game. This is pretty obvious.

 

[Langeveldt]

In the short term however (because nobody knows what is going to happen eventually), are we going to see this one day series in England? Everybody seems adament that it is going to take place, but hearing Strauss sounding miffed at the prospect of facing these guys leads me to believe that the players might be starting to view the whole thing as a waste of their time..

 

[outbreak]

Pakistan should be banned until investigations into their whole cricket structure are taken out by the ICC. Arguing that the cricket world needs pakistan is something i cannot fathom but i guess if a team i supported was in such a bad state i wouldn't readily accept things either. It's sad for the fans and the country but they should be angry at their own cricket board and force the issue so that they can come back stronger and cleaner in the future.

I was really getting behind the pakistan team lately and i thought with Butt as captain they could put aside their reputation. If all these allegations prove true they have had way too many chances and been involved in way too many controversies to continue playing until it's all sorted out. I don't believe in punishing the whole country but i do believe they shouldn't be allowed to play until large investigations and changes are made. I am for punishing the offending players though and i don't care if a player has shown potential to be a good talent, if their proven dirty harsh actions should be taken or else the public will lose confidence in the game completely. These bans wouldn't be handed out willy nilly, they are being handed out for legitimate reasons!

Sadly i have a strong feeling this will be dragged out for months with nothing happening until the icc can quietly sweep the majority of the issues under the rug and implement some small bans and fines which will not be enforced fully anyway. They seem to be against doing anything too serious for fear of losing money these days rather then taking actions that need to be taken to improve the game.

 

[Anil]

where to now? the next series, that's where...the game has been dirty for a long time, probably longer than most people knew and i doubt if there will be any ground-shaking changes this time around as well...

 

[Bonnie Prince C]

Playing a test series against Pakistan is just not worth it. I cannot see many sponsors wanting to touch the series now given that Pakistan just bring bad things with them. I think a lot of fans may also not want to attend matches as they would be put off by the fact the result of the game could have already been decided before they even entered the ates for a morning's play. Think getting rid of Pakistan from international cricket until they sort themselves out properly is the best thing for everyone.

 

[Sanz]

Why should an entire generation of cricketers suffer because of what was done by few individuals. Pakistan cricket does not need a ban, it needs help.

And to get that help they should first need to start cleaning their house, it starts with the players involved, they should be banned for life regardless of who they are. Then the administrators, they should be kicked out right now.

Pakistan cricket should be banned only if PCB runs another sham investigation. It is about time ICC takes stand and force PCB to act.

 

[Bonnie Prince C]

Why should an entire generation of cricketers suffer because of what was done by few individuals. Pakistan cricket does not need a ban, it needs help.

And to get that help they should first need to start cleaning their house, it starts with the players involved, they should be banned for life regardless of who they are. Then the administrators, they should be kicked out right now.

Pakistan cricket should be banned only if PCB runs another sham investigation. It is about time ICC takes stand and force PCB to act.

I would say it would be easier for the ICC to investigate if Pakistan were not playing cricket though. There is an obvious need for the PCB to change, both in personnel and how they operate. However, if Pakistan are still playing cricket they could well just get up to more things and potentially damage cricket further.

I would also say that to say it would cause an entire generation of cricketers to suffer is going over the top. I do not think anyone or certainly not many are suggesting to shut them out for a long period of time. It would just be for a period of time where the ICC can fully investigate and get Pakistan back on track in terms of cricket. That should take no longer than two years I would not say.