War on 'tampering'

Prosecutions of this type, and England's 3-0 victory in the test series against Pakistan, simply provide a fertile recruiting ground and make the “war” more difficult to win. The tamperers are known to enlist young bowlers by highlighting such injustices (as well as convincing them that tampering is a sure-fire way to a plethora of maidens).

Rather than engaging in witch-hunts, or 50-over demolitions of feeble sub-continental attacks, we should search for the root causes of tampering. Clearly, young Pakistani bowlers have genuine grievances about how the international game is played these days. They feel discriminated against for their inability to generate sufficient reverse swing to dismiss world class batsmen.

Tampering will only cease when we resource Pakistan with decent fast bowling coaches and make our own pitches a bit moister to generate extra movement through the air.

Prosecutions like this are akin to cutting the head off a Hydra. Until we are committed to addressing the root causes of tampering, and engaging in meaningful dialogue with the tamperers, we will achieve nothing. We are fighting an un-winnable war. Let us not destroy cricket in the process.