Tabloids - The Downfall of Cricket

       Today the International Cricket Council annouced the launching of an investigation into Friday's third one-day international between England and Pakistan at The Oval.  The game's world governing body says the probe is based on information passed on by The Sun newspaper.  ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat says the match, won by Pakistan by 23 runs, featured "a certain scoring pattern" that warranted further investigation.  The ECB has been told that no England player is involved in the allegations. 

      The big question for me is how on enough do these tabloids continue to get these stories.  After the stories in football, snooker and cricket recently I just can't believe people are still having this conversations with people they don't know about their sport and making arrangements wiht them.

      Most of the sport stars are professionals and will be earning anywhere 5 and 100 times the average wage for their countries, even the Pakistani players earn a sizable amount.  The question is how these players get themselves into these situations, if they are doing it for money then I have no sympathy for the players when the get caught.  It is the players that get stuck in situations and end up pressured into doing things they don't want to.  If this happens then the playes need to know that their sport's governing body has the power to help and protect them.

       With the Pakistani cricket team it seemed tha the young players didn't know who to talk to.  This was due to the older players all having allegations over thier head so they didn't know who to turn to.   With John Higgins he was cornered in a hotel in Ukraine and just said yes to anything to get out of their, he didn't go to snooker's governing body probably because he feared what might happen.

      The problem is that this is all coming from the illeagal under belly of society and it will always rear its ugly head until the criminal under world is gone which will never happen.  We just have to hope the players get wise soon otherwise a sport might get seriuosly damaged.