Shoaib Akhtar has claimed he deliberately ball tampered during his career.
Should we be shocked? Appalled? Angry? Indifferent? Cricket has had its fair share of scandals including match fixing and ball tampering. Messing with a cricket ball isn't fresh news. For Akhtar to admit it publicly in a book is slightly different. He isn't fronting a press conference or a committee. He is straight up telling the world he cheated. What's more, he seems indifferent, nonchalant even.
Other Pakistani fast bowlers have admitted they ball tampered in the past. Just ask Chris Pringle and the New Zealand side on the Pakistan tour in 1990. After witnessing their opponents pick at the ball, Pringle, a medium pacer at best, decided to do the same. He preceded to claim career best figures with a period of outrageous swing bowling in a test match.
In a career spanning more than a decade, Akhtar, the man dubbed the "Rawalpindi Express' certainly had his share of headlines. He was a self-anointed ‘rock-star’ who thrived on the notion of 'celebrity'. He was the fastest bowler the world has ever seen (clocking up to 161 kph) and at times was accused of blindly trying to break the speed record rather than win matches.
But back to his ball tampering. Akhtar says he did it because cricket now is more in favour of the batsmen. No ball rules, more Twenty20 cricket, bouncers becoming stricter, shorter matches. Should we be concerned? How many other international cricketers feel this way?
Akhtar’s comments won’t affect or change the way domestic or club cricket is played. With the direction cricket is heading – more cricket packed into limited timeframes, astronomical earning potential – is international cricket heading into a farce? And can it be stopped?
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