• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Treat Amir more leniently : Brearley

What do you think? Aamir should be treated with more leniency?


  • Total voters
    18

kingkallis

International Coach
Mike Brearley, the former England captain, has said that Mohammad Amir, the Pakistan fast bowler currently in prison for his role in the spot-fixing scandal, should be treated more leniently. Brearley said the pressure put on young players to fix spots or matches can be "appalling" and, should they admit their guilt and be willing to play their part in the fight against corruption, they ought to be given a second chance.

"We also need to recognise that the pressure put on the young player by criminal bookies or their agents, or by their corrupt team-mates, can be appalling," Brearley said in his Voice of Cricket Lecture at the Raj Singh Dungarpur World Cricket Summit in Mumbai. "As a result, some of those involved might need to be treated with compassion, especially if they admit their guilt and are willing to be enlisted in the battle against corruption. Deterrent and retributive justice tempered with mercy and discrimination is vital in sentencing and punishing.

"I don't think the whole truth has been told yet, or can be told. The 18-year old Mohammad Amir, who was subject to pressure and was, I believe, uninterested in any illegal financial gain, should have been, and I think should now be, treated much more leniently."

Amir was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat during the Lord's Test in August last year. The case was brought to court following a sting operation by the News of the World newspaper, which alleged that player agent Mazhar Majeed had arranged for Pakistan captain Salman Butt to ensure Amir and Mohammad Asif would bowl three pre-determined no balls.

Unlike Butt and Asif, who were found guilty after a 21-day trial, Amir had pleaded guilty before the trial began. Justice Cooke, who presided over the trial, said the early admission of guilt played a part in the reduction of Amir's jail term from nine to six months. Amir's appeal against his sentence, however, was subsequently dismissed.

"Like all secret organisations that recruit the naïve for illegal activities, the criminals linked to gambling draw people in by involving them first in activities that seem of a minor importance," Brearley said, adding that such activities could include information about the pitch or fitness of players in the dressing room. "And once in, threats against the player or his family may make it extremely difficult to get out. In the strenuous search for exemplary punishment, there has to be room for giving a misguided young player a second chance."

Brearley said cheating was cricket's most important issue and called for stakeholders to speak out against it. "Whistleblowing should become an absolute duty for everyone in the game."

Source : Cricinfo
 

Agent Nationaux

International Coach
I think it was good of Mike Brearley to talk about this because no one has yet discussed the pressure Amir must have been facing from bookies, his agent and his seniors. No one is that daft to fix for £2,000, when you can earn so much more from cricket.
 

Scaly piscine

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Total load of bollocks is misspelt in the thread title.

Brearley ontradicts himself badly throughout the article. He's basically make an argument about leniency because of co-operation, admission of guilt etc. when the guy he wants to be treated far more leniently didn't do any of that apart from the token plea when it was far too late and when he knew he was boned anyway. Asif was however far more accommodating with his criminal buddies, which is why he was given the prison sentence he got, which included a generous 33% reduction.
 

ganeshran

International Debutant
The ban was completely justified and the ICC was right in setting an example

The jail sentence too harsh though.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
I think if Amir had made a clean breast of it I'd have been more minded to agree with Brearley. As I recall it though the trial judge didn't accept that his admission of guilt was a full disclosure, effectively saying Amir was still being less than candid.

I must admit I'm still in two minds as to whether Amir is an ingenue lead astray or just an idiot. Or a combination of both.
 

Agent Nationaux

International Coach
I think if Amir had made a clean breast of it I'd have been more minded to agree with Brearley. As I recall it though the trial judge didn't accept that his admission of guilt was a full disclosure, effectively saying Amir was still being less than candid.

I must admit I'm still in two minds as to whether Amir is an ingenue lead astray or just an idiot. Or a combination of both.
But if he or his family is being threatened why would he disclose.
 

hazsa19

International Regular
But if he or his family is being threatened why would he disclose.
That argument might work if he were a farmer or a labourer, uncertain of whether he could get asylum. But he's a high-profile professional cricketer. There's no way he couldn't relocate his family to the UK or wherever in exchange for all the incriminating details.

I agree with Brearly. Young and naive cricketers who are led astray, who are truly sorry for their actions, should be given a second chance. Amir is not one of those.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
But if he or his family is being threatened why would he disclose.
He didn't need to name names (and, in fact, didn't) but could've admitted exactly what he personally had been guilty of up until his unmasking. If I recall correctly the judge rejected the grounds of his confession (which was that The Oval test was an abberation), pointing to evidence of previous contact between Amir and a fixer.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
18 is old enough to know the difference between doing right and wrong. He may have been cajoled into the wrong act, but he still did it. Absolutely nothing harsh about the penalty/ban. The harshest thing is that we won't be able to watch him, that's the only tragedy.
 

SteveNZ

Cricketer Of The Year
The guy was a teenager, not a toddler. He knew the story. Undoubtedly his sentence needed to be lighter than the others but I believe he got what he deserved.

And he showed by playing a league match in England that he had little remorse and no responsibility for his actions.

I don't feel an ounce of sorrow for him as others may.
 

Athlai

Not Terrible
Judging from some of the stuff said about him at the trial it just seems like Amir is a very unintelligent young man.
 

Naumaan

First Class Debutant
I think it doesn't matter what others say, Amir himself should never play the game again. If somehow he manages to play for Pakistan, there will be more haters for Pak Team.
 

zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Nothing be said here that hasn't already been said ad nauseam in other threads. I don't understand Brearley's garbled message, and I can't be bothered trying to decode it any more than I can be bothered arguing with people who reckon we should be dishing out life bans to teenagers.

Far more importantly I'm concerned to see another pompously titled cricket lecture - "the Voice of Cricket Speech" no less. At least they've not called it a ****ing "Oration" though. Small mercies.
 

hazsa19

International Regular
I think it doesn't matter what others say, Amir himself should never play the game again. If somehow he manages to play for Pakistan, there will be more haters for Pak Team.
I've no problem with people serving their bans, working hard, and earning their place back into a team.
 

Athlai

Not Terrible
Don't think he should be let off now though. You can be stupid and serve your time and get a shot at redemption but you can't let being a dumb **** be a free ticket.
 

Agent Nationaux

International Coach
But I don't think most people will want him back after he has served his ban. If he is good enough to represent Pakistan, no team will want to play Pakistan as long as he is in the team and no one would want to watch Pakistan play. That's why I think he shouldn't come back at all. Plus will he even get a visa to tour England in the future?
 

Top