His Master’s Voice

Waqas Khan believes that Majid Khan and his cousin Javed Burki are to be blamed for the negative image of the PCB just becase they had the guts and the will to root out corruption from Pakistani cricket. I fail to understand why he thinks that setting discipline within the cricket team is a bed precedent.Obviously, as is often the case with most ``experts`` on cricket in Pakistan, he comes from a non-cricketing background, otherwise any one who has played cricket even at a club level in Pakistan can tell him that whatever steps Majid Khan took were for the betterment of the game in the country.Overage players appearing in under-19 tournaments was considered a norm, so much so that you hardly found any under 19 boys in these teams. It was only after Majid took over and took the drastic step of introducing the wrist x-ray for players, that this practice stopped.

As for him `kicking` out the relatives of players from `hospitality stations`, then he must get his facts right, for the relatives were sitting on seats meant for the board officials and `relatives` of players had no right to be sitting there in the first place. Why is it that cricketers are given such a high status that they can break every rule that exists and get away with it? It is only because of the fact that we are so awe struck by our cricket stars that we think that they are above the rest of us and hence can do whatever they please to do. There is no Brown Sahib mentality in what Majid did,the only mentality that we,as a nation, suffer from is the slave mentality that lingers on even after 50 odd years of independence from our colonial masters. The same mentality that says that cricketers should be given a god-like status and allowed to act the way they please. The same mentality which says that if the Australians didn`t act against their players for accepting bribe, then we shouldn`t do the same.

My advice to Mr. Waqas, open your eyes.The humiliation and pain that the country suffers could have been prevented if the previous board chiefs had the courage and moral will to act against the erring cricketers. It is only because of people like Majid Khan that we can still hold our heads high as a nation for we, unlike others, are the first country to acknowledge that match-fixing occurs in this game and that we are willing to take action against cheats.

Some history ran across me. I thought I should share it with you folks.

Why has all this match fixing, corruption, punters, bookies etc. come to Cricket? Why do they exist, to be more specific? Because of one thing, and that is MONEY. Who brought money to the game? Who really commerliazed the game (nothing wrong in it, but when such large amounts of money has to come in, you also have to prepare necessary playing field to handle it, else you are dump in this kind of filth)

Anyway to get back to the question. I can only think of two countries. Australia and South Africa. Mr Kerry Packer brought loads of money into the game in late 70s and really destoyed national teams. Players left their national sides to play there. And who really benefited in the end. Well I wont comment, and would just say that Mr Packer is the richest man in Australia today.

And South Africans initiating the phenomeon of `rebels` and `rebel teams`. Giving unimaginable amounts of money to players (really amounting to bribery) to leave their national sides and come and play in their country knowing the fact that playing in this manner was an offence (right or wrong is another issue).

So no wonder South Africans are suffering for what they did to others. (and next in line would be Australians). All the more reason for Mr Bacher to shut up!

Any comments for that? Waqas and others ?

Ather Imran Nawaz, Pakistan

This is a news report from Mr. Ghosh of the statesman dated the 15th of June - putting a different twist on the Majid-Bacher posturing.

Regards,

Waqas

_________________________________

Majid Khan, Bacher have axes to grind

SHYAM SUNDAR GHOSH

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

CALCUTTA, June 13. — Cricket is a funny game what with its rules and their interpretations, but the people who are at the helm of administration are now making a mockery of the game — and that too to settle personal scores.

The latest instance is the allegation by South African Cricket Board chief, Dr Ali Bacher, who testified before the judge — Mr Edwin King — that last year’s World Cup match between India and Pakistan was fixed. Dr Bacher said that he had received the information from former Pakistani Cricket Board chief Mr Majid Khan. Mr Khan admitted that he had conveyed that message to Dr Bacher. Mr Khan does not have any proof about the matter, but he wishes to settle scores with Pakistani skipper Wasim Akram. For that reason, he undermined India’s great achievement, including the lion-hearted bowling of Venkatesh Prasad. Those who were present at Old Trafford on that day will always remember how India fought back after making 227/6. Pakistan were bundled out for 180 , and the Indian medium-pacer bowled his heart out, capturing 5/27.

The match was played on 8 June, 1999, and after one year,the allegation was made by a person who was not present at the ground. The deposition was to a judge who was supposed to deliver his judgement on whether the South African players were involved a the match-fixing issue.

It was interesting that Dr Bacher did not mention the controversy that was raised by their former coach Mr Bob Woolmer and a number of South African players when they were “offered” money by Indian bookies. Since then he has admitted that he himself knew the bookie for the last five years, from the time the Indian team toured South Africa. The question naturally arises as to why he did not take action against the players when it now looks that the entire team knew about the financial offer made to the players during South Africa’s tour of India. Dr Bacher should also have questioned the outcome of the South-Africa-Zimbabwe league game in the last World Cup. In that match, South Africa lost their first six wickets for a paltry 40 runs and eventually lost the game. It was Zimba-bwe’s first victory in eight matches.

Mr Khan’s action also clearly shows that he wants to divert attention to the Indian and Pakistani players and officials, and he probably wishes to make a big issue of the matter on the eve of Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya’s termination of office on 27 June.

Mr Majid Khan was himself in charge of the Pakistani cricket team during the World Cup and he was present during the entire tournament. We met a number of times, but he told neither Indian nor Pakistani journalists that he had suspicions that the match was fixed. Times without number, many Pakistani officials have stated that they were of the view that the Pakistan-Bangladesh match was an “agreed” affair, and when Pakistan put up a poor show in the final against Australia, many blamed the Pakistani players for “match-fixing”.

It is a fact that many Board officials from the sub-continent said that they felt happy that Bangladesh had recorded their second victory, and that this would help bring one more Test nation to the sub-continent.

It would be better that instead of questioning the Pakistani players, the Pakistani Govern-ment were to enquire as to what role Mr Majid Khan had played at that stage when Bangladesh recorded a victory over Pakistan.

If we go through Mr Justice Malik Muhammad Qayyum’s report, we will find that the present Pakistani coach, Mr Javed Miandad, deposed before the court of inquiry that the reason for his quitting the coach’s post abruptly on the eve of the World Cup was that he had received a call during Pakistan’s match against England from someone claiming that Shahid Afridi, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Salim Malik and Inzamam-ul-Haq had taken money to “throw” the match. He also accused the team of indulging in “match-fixing” in a match in Toronto and another in Mohali — but on both occasions, Pakistan had registered victories! Curiously, Mr Miandad now feels proud of most of these players, including the present skipper Moin Khan. Mr Majid Khan wanted action to be taken against Wasim Akram, and Mr Miandad did not want Akram to take centre stage for the team’s success. Mr Majid Khan wanted Mr Justice Qayyum to debar Akram from playing cricket further, but the judge just imposed fines on six players for various reasons. Most of them are in the present Pakistani squad.

It is unfortunate that the credibility of this beautiful game has come to such a state that doubts are arising about the players’ performances. Mr IS Bindra had enjoyed the fruits of office for the last 15 years, and he was instrumental, along with Mr Jagmohan Dalmiya, in organising matches in off-shore venues — Singapore and Toronto, for instance. What is interesting is that all the allegations have come after Hansie Cronje admitted his “mistake”.

The Indian Board has announced that the country will take part in the Toronto tournament. This will be the last year of the “Friendship Tour”. But the Union Ministry has yet to give the green light. Last year the Board officials, after a great effort, finally succeeded in getting the opportunity to put up a team against the West Indies. It was decided after the Kargil War that India will play against Pakistan only in a triangular series — not in any tournament where only two teams are participating. According to Board sources, they have yet to receive any letter from the Sports Ministry. The latest controversy brought up by Dr Bacher and Mr Majid Khan will definitely cause our Ministry to think twice before giving permission for a five-match series in Toronto when the performances of players are being credited to bookies. The Board should not give people the opportunity to point their fingers at players just to serve their own interests. It is time for the Board officials to cancel the tour, and the Government should give the signal after the CBI’s report is officially made available. But before that, it is the duty of the BCCI to condemn Mr Majid Khan and Dr Bacher, who are reported to be closely associated with our Board’s top bosses.

The Indian board will take up the matter of Mr Bacher’s allegation with the ICC, PTI adds from Mumbai. Mr Anshuman Gaekwad, India’s World Cup coach, expressed surprise at the charge.

Re: Khalida

Khalid(a) I have no personal vendetta against Majid Khan - actually growing up he was my favorite criketer.

The point of the article was the ability of people like Bacher to deflect their problems by blaming them on others - in this case against Paksitan and its cricketers and umpires - as he thinks the PCB are weak enough not to take him up on it. He dare not deflect against others, say against the Australians, for fear of a harsh reality check.

In addition, are these old dinosaurs of a bygone era that are still stuck to a pre-partition mentality and cause more grief to their own without rhyme or reason just to please their ``frineds`` and have a nice nsicker with them without understanding what they are getting into.

There has been a complete inquiry into Pakistan cricket through Justice Qayyum and the 150 page report that banned Malik and Ata can be read on the Internet. Majid, without proof tried again to point the finger at his own team and players for what? FOr a couple of mathces that paksitan lost and he THOUGHT that they were fixed. based on no proof. South Africa lost to Zimbabwe, Australia lost to New Zealand but Mr. Khan had to point the finger at hsi own. In addition he was aware that there was a witch-hunt on the WC99 affair by the then Ehtesab comission and they were found to be above board. But even then, Majid chose to give an dditional press conference ahiling the matches fixed when the only proof he had was a figment of his imagination and that this disclosure was not for any other purpose than to help save his budd`s hide. So that he could make his buddy - the powerful Mr. Bacher happy.

Re: Rooster-blues

I do not know where you got your racism bit from but this article is not about racism. It is about a man trying to protect his own hide and of his commission by pointing a finger at others based on heresay and whispers. The issue is the sheer stupidity of people who have been in responsible positions in the PCB and in Pakistan cricket that support him and try to cut their own down for the apparent reason of sour grapes and their own pre-partition mind-sets.

As for racism - do read the Michael Hendersons (of the Telegraph) and Greg Baums (of the Melbourne Age) to understand why all the evil and slime in the World is caused by the people from the sub-continent wink, wink! (but that, as we say, is a tale for another day).

Regards,

Waqas

Bash those racist pigs.. well deserved bashing WK !… its about time .. come to think of it , it seems crazy out in the Cricket World .. gutter is exposed .. now we can smell it , although every dick and harry knew there was a gutter hole in the middle of the street .. but no one bothered (knowingly) to notice it .. until one day it spilled over .. now every one is pointing fingers .. playing innocent , blaming it on the subcontinent Mafia corrupting there god fearing innocent Christian souls … damn it .. the Pig Bacher is a corrupt to the bone him self , and Australians are nothing but bunch of bigots with painted hypocrisy all over there system .. there is a cautious effort to divert the scandal towards Pakistan & India … hey dumbo Bacher we will smell you later deal with your crap .. we have our crooks we will handle them the Pakistani way by pretending that it never existed and even if did we dealt with it ‘promptly and effectively’ …..

ylh

re ``most bangladeshis supporting pakistan`s team over india`s.``

of course this is true.

this is because the pakistani team has the second-most exciting bowling attack i have ever seen. i`m not sure this has anything to do with 1947 or 1971.

i may be wrong of course.

everybody zindabad in any case.

aakar patel (1969)

Now Bacher is accused of match-fixing

http://www-usa.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2000/JUN/037559_CI_14JUN2000.html

The King Commission has confirmed that it is investigating a shock allegation against United Cricket Board managing director Dr Ali Bacher by a Johannesburg attorney that he (Bacher) was involved in arrangements for the West Indies cricket team to receive extra payment for losing a match.

The allegation against Bacher is made in a statement submitted by attorney Peter Soller to the King Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday.

John Bacon, secretary of the Commission, told Beeld that he had received Soller`s statement and that the allegations against Dr Bacher would be investigated at once.

According to Soller`s statement, he was called to the Wanderers cricket ground in Johannesburg by a sports promoter, Richard Tessel, during a one-day match between South Africa and the West Indies.

The match took place during a ``rebel tour`` by the West Indies in the mid-eighties.

Tessel told him he was involved in the arrangements for the tour and that during the luncheon break the West Indian team had decided that they would not go back on the playing field because they were not being paid enough.

Soller said Tessel had asked him to negotiate with the West Indians.

Soller`s statement says: ``I spoke in the West Indians` change rooms to the captain, Lawrence Rowe, among others. At one point the late Atholl McKinnon, then media representative for the Windies, asked me to go to another place in the Wanderers where Dr Ali Bacher was waiting for me.

``At first Dr Bacher threatened to summons the Windies for breach of contract. After discussions between Mr Tessel and Dr Bacher the three of us agreed that if the Windies agreed to blow the match they would be paid extra as an inducement.``

Soller`s statement continues: ``After another protracted session of negotiations with the Windies players, they agreed to go back on the playing field and lose the match.``

Soller`s statement does not give any indication of how much money was involved.

Dr Ali Bacher told Beeld on Tuesday night that he ``most strongly`` denied being involved in any match fixing.

He said he well remembered the specific match at the Wanderers, as well as the dispute which arose over the payment to the Windies team.

``I never made an offer that they would receive more money if they deliberately lost the match`` he said.

Responding to Dr Bacher`s statement, Peter Soller said that he stood 100 per cent by his allegations.

Soller was the attorney representing Laurie Fraser in the latter`s custody battle and subsequent abduction case. - Beeld/News24.

This story first appeared on www.news24.co.za and www.beeld.com

Posted with permission from the author


By Ali Minai

June 13 (Durban): In a sensational twist to the developing story on match fixing at the highest levels of international cricket, former
South African captain and professional administrator, Dr. Ali Bacher,
claimed that the Queen of England was actually Salim Malik in disguise.
``I was informed of this by a serious young man in a blue dress who
sat next to me at the Tipsy Rooster on March 22, 1994``, said the
veteran cricketer, who went on to say that the young man reminded him
of Majid Khan, though he had never seen the latter in a dress. ``I do
not want to make too much of this``, said Dr. Bacher, ``but the whole
thing just fits very well with all the other facts we have. For example,
we know that the Queen and Salim Malik have never been seen together
in public, and that the Queen often dresses in blue.`` A spokesman for
Buckingham Palace strenuously disputed Dr. Bacher`s claims. ``The Queen
is not Mr. Malik``, said Jonathan Squelch, Director of Communications
for the Palace. Asked to speculate on the allegations, Mr. Squelch
expressed a profound inability to take Dr. Bacher seriously. ``I do
not find him credible``, said Mr. Squelch, after he was pressed on the
matter. The South African Cricket Union had no comment on these
developments. However, Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya, President of the
International Cricket Council, commented that he had always thought
there was something strange about Salim Malik. Mr. Malik was away on
business and could not be reached for comment, but Mrs. Malik, speaking
on the condition of maximum publicity, declared that her husband was no
queen. This fact was later confirmed by Justice Qayyum who, among other
things, is also a certified notary public.

In another significant development, the former Indian captain Kapil
Dev signed a five year contract as a professional loser with Doordarshan.
His duties will include whining, complaining, and issuing sanctimonious
statements, when needed. His contract has a special clause under
which Doordarshan will provide Mr. Dev with a life-size Manoj Prabhakar
doll and a designer set of reusable voodoo pins. The suppliers of the
doll are anticipating further orders from cricketers, administrators,
and umpires all over the world. An Aamir Sohail doll is already in the
prototyping stages.

Meanwhile, during a closed hearing in Johannesburg, former South African
captain, Hansie Cronje declared that match-fixing was God`s work, ``I am
a good Christian man, and it was my duty to ensure that the Lord`s will
was carried out``, he said. However, the appearance of a mysterious cloud
pattern spelling out, ``He lies!`` in the skies over Johannesburg is widely
viewed as a definitive rebuttal of Mr. Cronje`s claim. Further cosmic
messages --- and possible divine retribution against Mr. Cronje --- are
eagerly awaited.

More news on the match-fixing controversy is expected tomorrow when Dr. Bacher wakes up after another night of dream-filled sleep.

Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to real prsons or events is purely coincidental. The correspondent does not think that the Queen is Salim Malik.

I have a friend from Bangladesh, who supports India herself, but says that most Bangladeshis support Pakistan .....

-Pakistan zindabad

-Quaid e Azam Zindabad

-Jiye Bhutto

-Imran Khan for PM

-Pakistani Cricket team RULZ

Yasser Hamdani

Ali1,Mohajir

// *Bangladeshis were overwhelmingly supporting Pakistan because Pakistan is an Islamic country. Bangladesh and Bangladeshis would support Pakistan because of RELIGION. *//

I wonder whom were the stranded `Biharis` supporting

Hey Waqas,

Opened up your article with a lot of interest but was very much dissappointed by the personal vendetta spitted out by you against Majid and Javed..Your lengthy tirade seemed unending..I think you screwed up a woderfully written article by your biased rhetoric.

Athar Imran Nawaz`s comments were logical and appealing...Keep up the good work ATI!!!!!!!!

Khalid

ali1:

It`s the religion, stupid...

Yes Bangladeshis were overwhelmingly supporting Pakistan because Pakistan is an Islamic country. Bangladesh and Bangladeshis would support Pakistan because of RELIGION.

Something to cheer

Anwar Ahmad

It fell to cricket buff to think up this clincher to silence the incurable cynics who are for ever questioning the basis of the beautiful country that has given them an international identity over the last half century. The argument is rather simple: if nothing else justifies the creation of Pakistan, the sheer joy of beating India in a cricket match certainly does. And, to beat India at Dhaka!

The last time they had clashed there, Pakistan hit a seemingly impregnable 300-plus runs. But, despite losing Tendulkar early, the Indians scored a stunning last-over victory. Such are the glorious uncertainties of this incomparable game. This, of course, is discounting the inglorious ones added on by the match-fixing revelations (now dropping all over as if from a swirling swarm of kite-eagles).

What a windfall the bookies, who thrive on a twisting-turning contest that ends in a pulsating upset, must have raked in over that Indian victory. This time around, the results were truer to the odds. So let us savour the triumph at Dhaka for, despite all the match-fixing muck flying around, outside of cricket there isn`t much to cheer about.

After the previous loss to India at Dhaka, it was lamented that the Pakistani team had let its Bangladeshi fans down. This time, it did not. Most of the crowd rooted for Pakistan in the match against India and, in the final against Sri Lanka, almost all the 60,000 were dancing in the stands as, first, Moin Khan and that adorable behemoth Inzamam smashed 100-plus runs in the last ten overs and, then, Wasim Akram snapped up the dogged Atapatu and the defiant Chandana.

For those of us who cannot get over the traumatic separation, a cricket match at Dhaka evokes bitter-sweet memories. Watching young Bangladeshis joyously waving homemade Pakistani flags, the star-and-crescent in green painted on their faces and hand-painted banners in praise of their Pakistani heroes held aloft, sends one plummeting into the realm of what might have been. Everything, even the drum to the beat of which they were dancing, was painted green, said Ravi Shastri.

When a jubilant Moin Khan thanked the crowd for the support, a loud cheer resonated across the ground. If only he had paused to let it take dramatic effect and, then, wished Bangladesh well in their quest for a Test-status. As the world of cricket watched, full use was not made of the magical moment.

Cricket may not be a definite barometer, but it certainly is a fair indicator of public preferences. Please recall the Australia-Sri Lanka World Cup final at Lahore whereafter the victorious Ranatunga had felt as if they were playing in Colombo. And, can we imagine a Pakistani crowd cheering India against Sri Lanka?

Yet, despite the bitterness that they are reminded of in school, the cricket criterion suggests that most young Bangladeshis have a soft spot for Pakistan. This is particularly amazing because India, after all, was their deliverer. And the myopic Pakistani establishment, or its civil society for that matter, can hardly be credited with masterminding a win-hearts-influence-people blitz in Bangladesh.

well bowled waqas....lovely leg-cutters!

shabash, shabash

Waqas,

I agree to certain extent on your lambasting tirade against Majid Khan. My personal peeves against him was the Aamer Sohail incident and how he didn`t allow Saeed, Afridi and Ahzar to play county cricket in England in 1998 (had he done so Pakistan might have won the WC).

But I feel you have gone a little overboard. The fact is a lot of Pakistanis even the PCB know that a lot more cricketers are guilty of match fixing. Salim Malik and Ata Rehman have been made scapegoats.

The fact of the matter is that there has been a huge cover up by the PCB and tacitly endorsed by the government of Pakistan to let the likes of Wasim, Waqar,Inzamam, Mushtaq and Saeed Anwar and others go

unabashed. True, we need hard evidence to convict but a better and through investigation is required. While many national teams are involved namely India, Australia and South Africa we as a nation have not gone the distance to clean this mess up -for good. I agree with you that Australia and S.Africa might be trying to shift the blame onto us but I believe we as a cricketing nation have NOT totally uncovered the truth. Only when we do this will our repuatation internationally become clean. Everytime Pakistan loses many of us question whether or not it was thrown or did we lose fair and square.

I think many people in Pakistan are scared or just want to avoid the whole scandal. Majid spoke up and probably told the truth. I agree with you that Bacher shouldn`t have been the one he told he should have informed the proper PCB authorities and maybe even the ICC.

The problem is the PCB has put a lid on this matter. Wasim and mushy and others need to be further investigated. Why the government under President Malvi Tarar sat on the Qayyum report for more than a year beats me and why isn`t the government taking the report`s recommendations of investigating other players just points to the trend that the PCB is out to cover its cricketers many who are involved in these criminal activities.

During the recent Asia Cup Pak vs Ind matches at Dhaka, I felt that Pakistan was playing in Pakistan rather than in a foreign country. Crowd`s enthusiasm and support for Pak was amazing. Can someone who watched confirm/explain this? esp. someone from Bangladesh.

Well written and timely although I feel that Majid and Burki slamming carried on a little too far, despite the fact that not all is right with them. In any case,

1. Mr Bacher should know that he cannot fool everyone all the time. The golden rule `Set your house in order before guiding others` or to be more specific `those who are sitting in house of glass should not throw stones at others`. So what if Mr Majid Khan has said that matches are fixed. In any case, who is Majid Khan? These are only accusations Mr Bacher, not acceptance of sins by `good christian` and great players of a `great cricketing nation`. So please make sure that you look into your criminals before alleging other. Same rule applies for Australians, Indians and others as well.

2. Now the more common sense stuff. For match fixing and betting going on in a team for so long, with money matters discussed in team meetings, surely, absolutey surely, the whole team has to be involved. Lets now turn to the Pollocks and Kluseners from junior `black` players. For Mr Bacher to be not aware of it or have not done anything about it for years means only two things :

a. He is thoroughly incompetent and possesses a very marginal Intelligence Quotient.

b. He is thoroughly involved in the filth himself. And since this being not an age of angels and miracles, this to me is a very decent possibility.

3. As regards Javed Akhtar, I absolutely agree with Waqar that by this argument, why not a whole list of British and WestIndian umpires, who all made sure that Pakistan does not win a series on their soil. And they have been greatly successful in it.

Now Mr Bacher, there are two options for you. Just like a `good christian` go to the pope and accept your sins, or else shut up.

Ather Imran Nawaz, Pakistan