Hearing Amir linked to scam was disappointing

When I heard on Saturday night that Pakistan were involved in a match-fixing scandal, I immediately thought two things. The first was: I'm not massively surprised. The second was: please, don't let it be Mohammad Amir.

When it turned out the lad was involved, it felt hugely disappointing. Mohammad Asif has got himself into scrapes before, but Amir has been a breath of fresh air all summer. He's revived the dying art of proper fast bowling and his future looked fantastic. Now it's been tarnished. Lord's felt a shallow place to be yesterday.

I know rumours have always swirled round this Pakistan side, but their supporters will still feel hugely let down by the allegations. At Edgbaston earlier this summer Amir was treated like a demi-god by the young Pakistan fans. What will they think of him now? They needed a hero. Instead, they've got yet another scandal.

And the worry is that this is merely the tip of the iceberg. I'm all for not condemning someone before they are proven guilty, but the footage does not look good. Amir hadn't bowled many no-balls in the first three Tests so to go so far through the crease was pretty damning. And take a look at Salman Butt at extra cover in the picture above. I fielded there quite a lot and I would look at the ball until it was about halfway down, and then at the batsman. The one place I wouldn't look is at the bowler, but that's exactly where Butt is looking. Again, the evidence does not look favourable.

Financial reality

Of course, with the disappointment comes anger. I'm furious with Pakistan cricket for going down this road again. I know there's probably a financial reason for this sort of behaviour. They must look over the border to their rich neighbours India and the IPL, which the Pakistanis aren't allowed to play in, and wonder why they're not getting a slice of the pie. But that doesn't make it right.

The public will feel equally short-changed. They had just witnessed a marvellous fightback by England on day two and some special bowling on the Saturday. Now they will wonder whether any of what they watched was tainted. Were bowling changes made in good faith? Were the right fields set at the right time? And that's the problem with things like this: you lose faith in what you see.