Thursday, November 03, 2011

Why Is Pakistani Cricket Corrupt?

There is an idea that international sports stars get paid vast amounts for very little work. In the case of the Pakistani cricket team it really is not true- the basic salary for international cricketers is £22000. While that is a considerable sum in Pakistan, it probably goes fast if you are travelling the world almost non stop in countries where the cost of living is much more that in Pakistan.

With millions of pounds being made through betting on cricket and so little being paid to the players it is not difficult to see why so many of their players were corrupt.

So the next question is why are they paid so little and the answer to that seems to be that their is no competitive market for cricket players- the money is largely in international cricket (the IPL is a positive step in the other direction.and players cannot simply offer their services to the highest bidder.

Despite football having teams from nations even more corrupt than Pakistan there are few credible reports of match fixing in international football because the clubs will pay players from poor countries what they are worth.

4 comments:

Jim said...

Its also harder to 'fix' a football match. A player cannot try less hard very easily in a football match without attracting attention. Whereas cricket is very much a feast and famine sport - the batsman who gets 100 in the first innings can (legitimately) be out for a duck in the second. A bowler can get clouted for runs even when he's trying his best. Hence match fixing is very hard to spot. Add in the statistical nature of cricket and you have a perfect game for betting on, and thus for fixing too.

In fact the history of cricket shows that it owes its origins and growth to the the desire of the British aristocracy for a game to wager on. And as such its early days were extremely murky, to say the least. The concept of cricket being the epitome of fair play and honesty is probably a Victorian invention, and wasn't even true then either. Ask anyone who played cricket against WG Grace.

Johnnyrvf said...

Pay an international football player what he is worth? Several million pouns a year? Shome mishtake, shurely?

Anonymous said...

"Despite football having teams from nations even more corrupt than Pakistan"
What countries are more corrupt than Pakistan?

Actually there have been cases of well paid footballers being involved in spot fixing.
I think the betting on throws in has been banned as a result.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/8250042.stm

Ross said...

Jim- Good point. Goalkeepers are the only ones who can really influence the result as decisively as a bowler can in cricket.

Johnnyrvf- I'm referring purely to how much they benefit the people who pay them when I talk about their worth.

"What countries are more corrupt than Pakistan?"

Anon- Not many but Nigeria and a handful of other countries are up there.