31 August 2010 Last updated at 10:14 ET

What went wrong with Pakistani cricket?

By Rishad Mahmood Sports editor, Dawn newspaper

Pakistani fans are shocked and disillusioned

Reports of corruption have dogged Pakistani cricket for two decades.

The latest allegations - that members of the team deliberately bowled no-balls at pre-arranged moments during the current England tour - have shocked Pakistanis.

But frequent reports of corruption and mismanagement in Pakistani cricket have disillusioned fans here.

These days, even victories are taken with a pinch of salt, while critics have cast doubt on numerous close games involving Pakistan.

It hasn't helped that all major investigations launched into cricket corruption in Pakistan have achieved precious little over the years.

Failed inquiries

The most prominent was the Justice Qayyum inquiry in 1999 following the team's shocking defeat to Bangladesh in the World Cup that year.

Salim Malik and medium pace bowler Ata-ur Rehman received life bans for match-fixing after the probe but the bans were later rescinded.

More recently, when Pakistan lost all eight international fixtures against Australia last December, the Pakistan Cricket Board launched an investigation amid reports of dressing room unrest.

Ex-skippers Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were barred from the national team indefinitely, while one-year bans were given to senior all-rounders Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan for poor conduct.

Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt are currently being investigated

Heavy fines were imposed on Shahid Afridi for ball tampering and Kamran Akmal and brother Umar for flouting rules and obstinate behaviour during the tour.

But the punishments were short-lived.

Younus Khan challenged the ban in court and was exonerated on all charges. Mohammad Yousuf retired from international cricket - only to be recalled for the current England tour.

Within weeks Shoaib Malik's ban had been lifted as a "gift for his wedding" to Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. Afridi and the Akmal brothers, meanwhile, paid their fines, apologised to the board and swiftly returned to the team.

Former Test cricketer and selector Iqbal Qasim says allegations of spot-betting and match-fixing will continue to haunt Pakistani cricket until "strict, definitive measures are in place to check indisciplined players".

He says the Pakistan Cricket Board should take much of the responsibility for the controversies surrounding the team.

"The board is mismanaged. How can you expect it to control the players when it is in a mess itself?" asks Qasim, who stepped down as chief selector following the disastrous Australia tour.

He says the probe into the performance of the team in Australia was "an eyewash", a charge board officials have denied.

'Lack of accountability'

Former captain Moin Khan also puts the blame on the cricket board for the sorry state of affairs.

Khan believes that none of the cricket administrators who have ruled Pakistan cricket for the last 10 years have been held to account.

Other commentators like Malik Arshed Gilani say cricket officials in Pakistan have failed younger players.

"Pakistani players in Pakistan team today come from remote areas and have poor educational backgrounds," says Mr Gilani.

Critics say Pakistani cricket is run badly

"It is the cricket board's job to groom these talented players and inculcate the right values in them.

Mr Gilani wants to know how young boys from rural areas can be expected to "fathom the intricacies of the game or overcome its temptations"?

He says the board should inform and tell the players to be on guard against the "wrong guys" - bookies, agents - who hover around the team.

Many believe that charges of cricket corruption, including allegations of match-fixing, are inevitable at a time when the temptation for quick money is huge.

Besides, Pakistani players were shut out of last year's Indian Premier League (IPL), cricket's richest tournament, and have played fewer games after foreign teams stopped visiting the country following the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

So are Pakistani players so financially strained that they run the risk of falling prey to temptation?

Cricket analyst Aamir Bilal does not believe that it is the case.

"It is a rags-to-riches story for most cricketers. Look at [bowler] Danish Kaneria, for instance, who hails from a remote district in Jacobabad and could not even afford a train fare to Karachi. After his international career and some good English county assignments, he is making good money and is reasonably happy.

"I think naiveté rather than greed makes some cricketers susceptible to temptation."