A three man Pakistan Cricket Board tribunal has decided, 2 to 1, that Akhtar and Asif had unknowingly consumed steroids as part of their supplement dosage. While I am overjoyed at the prospect of Pakistani pacemen force-feeding Aussie and South African batsmen some of their own medicine, I have serious reservations about the effects the PCB's unilateral decision will have on doping in cricket:
1. The PCB has unilaterally declared Akhtar and Asif not-guilty of doping. The ICC has yet to even comment on the matter and the World Anti-Doping Agency is toothless in this jurisdiction. Does this mean that any cricket board can exonerate their players of doping charges? That too without unanimity, but rather 2-1 in 3 man tribunal. What if Tendulkar is caught cheating, or Jayasuriya. Surely the respective boards would love to save their careers and the team's chances. Shouldn't the ICC be the body with the final say on this matter.
2. Asian teams risk losing the goodwill of other teams in the sport. We got our way with Darrell Hair. If we want cricket to remain non-politicised, South Asian teams should be more responsible when playing by the rules. Akhtar and Asif were found with banned substances in their body. The fact that they may have not knowingly ingested them, is a failure of the Pakistani Cricket establishment and not really the concern of the ICC, or the other teams.
3. I can see Akhtar and Asif being sledged and abused if they play again. While this would still be untoward and unseemly, it would be very hard to fault the other teams. This creates deadlock and an atomosphere that is completely against the spirit of cricket.
4. It sets a ridiculous precedent. If Asif and Akhtar have their bans lifted, it will be plain for all to see that stars, South Asian stars, do not get punished for doping. Given the current miserable state of Indian and Sri Lankan cricket, could a doped-out Suresh Raina or Attapatu (two players in dire need of help) be next?
Asif and Akhtar may be indispensable to Pakistani cricket, but are they really worth ruining the whole game for?
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1. "Does this mean that any cricket board can exonerate their players of doping charges?"
Yes, for the ICC had said earlier that this was an internal matter for the PCB to work on - so be it. The PCB decides to overturn the ban, so what? I don't see anything wrong. The ICC deserves this, they wanted to sweep the problem away by not tackling it themselves. Hope it is a lesson learnt.
2. "Asian teams risk losing the goodwill of other teams in the sport."
Big deal. First of all, the Pakistan team does not enjoy too much goodwill anyway. Furthermore, one of the main reasons why the two other South Asian teams keep getting screwed is because they are looking for goodwill, and not victories.
The precedent bit, I agree with you.
But honestly, think about it, you say yourself that it is a failure of the PCB. If that is indeed the case, why punish two bowlers? Asif can barely speak english.. how's he supposed to understand what is allowed and what's not..
I think the overtunring of the ban is not ruining the game in anyway. In fact, it means that one of the world's most promising fast bowlers and another who is in the purplest patch of his life will get to play the world cup. This in turn means that there is one more team that could chalenge australia, and i'm sure you agree with me here- that that is the best thing for cricket at the moment, something that the game requires more than anything else...
(sorry for the long post)
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