Guilty as charged

Salman Butt, Pakistan's former test captain has been sentenced for two and a half years in jail. Pace bowler Mohammad Asif will be sent to jail for one year while strike bowler Mohammad Aamer will spend six months in detention. Their corrupt agent Mazher Majeed has also been sentenced to two years and eight months.

All three have been found guilty of accepting illegitimate payments in a so-called "spot-fixing" scam during test matches against England at Lord's cricket ground last year.

Considered the worst fixing scandal in more than 10 years, the crime was uncovered by Rupert Murdoch’s "News of the World," which was later shut down due to a wiretapping scandal.

Prosecutors at the Southwark Crown Court in London said Butt, Asif and Aamer had been involved in a conspiracy with British agent Mazher Majeed to deliberately bowl no-balls against payment, also known as "spot fixing."

27-year-old Butt and 28-year-old Asif have been subsequently convicted of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and gambling. Mohammad Aamer accepted the charges before the trial of his teammates began. All three cricketers face up to seven years in prison after their sentences are announced later this week.

Chief of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Haroon Lorgat expressed dismay at the scandal and said that the players had overstepped their own country's laws, those of Britain and also the laws of the game. The ICC had already executed bans for several years on the cricketers in February this year.

Securing the future of cricket

Former Pakistan cricket captain Rashid Latif believes that his country desperately needs to save its "future generations after what happened to Butt, Asif and Aamer." More investment in the game would probably help in this regard, he says, adding that this verdict might not make a difference to Pakistan or to international cricket.

Aamer Sohail, another former captain of the team has also urged the country's cricket board to be more active. There should have been attempts to bring the three players back to Pakistan and try them in the nation's courts, says Sohail.

Common people in Pakistan have also expressed their anger against the convicted players. The country has not hosted any matches since March 2009, when gunmen attacked members of the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

Shista Haider, a woman in Karachi, told AFP: "Pakistan's cricket has been destroyed equally by the brutal terrorists and cruel cricketers. It's utter shame to discuss these issues. Let them suffer whatever they deserve," she adds.

Agencies: AFP, AP, Reuters (mg)
Editor: Sarah Berning