Afridi apologises, KP makes up and the PCB launches an Official Inquiry

[Maranello]

Interesting and positive developments reported in a Pakistani newspaper, which, given the importance of the Afridi issue and its potential to wreck mutual good-will, are worth quoting in full (link):

FAISALABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is to hold an independent inquiry into the incident involving Shahid Afridi scuffing the pitch on the second day of the second Test against England here at the Iqbal Stadium.

"Afridi has apologised for his behaviour and he has also been penalised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee. But we’ll hold our own inquiry as it is not an incident in good taste," PCB Director Abbas Zaidi said on Tuesday.

All-rounder Afridi has been banned for one Test and two One-day Internationals against England after pleading guilty to damaging the pitch.

The 25-year-old described his actions as a ‘moment of madness’. "I really don’t know what happened or what I was doing out there on the pitch. I know on camera it looked very bad and I feel I’ve let myself and the team down," Afridi said. "I really regret my actions because I’ve always played the game in the proper spirit. I know what I did was a big mistake and it will remain a stigma for me all my life. As a senior member of the Pakistan team I know what my responsibilities are," he added.

Match referee Roshan Mahanama found Afridi guilty of a level three breach of the ICC code of conduct and of violating the spirit of the game after the incident which was picked up by TV cameras.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen said the incident had not soured the relationship between the teams. "The ICC has dealt with it appropriately. He came and apologised this morning when we were going out to bat," Pietersen said.

Afridi will miss the third Test from November 29 and the first two One-day Internationals on December 10 and 12 against England by which time Zaidi said the inquiry would be completed.

[Occasional Fan]

Good to see that the teams have apparently just returned to the real business of playing cricket. Better left with the backroom boys at the PCB now.

[Maranello]

Yes OF. The two things of note in this report are:

1. Afridi apologised to the England dressing room, which is what I hoped he should have done.

2. He realises that he will carry this stigma for the rest of his life - hopefully, that will help mature him as a person and also prevent any further violations.

[Victor Frankenstein]

Good to see him apologise, I hope harmison and vaughan would do the same to inzi. I still can't believe Afridi did it though, it just makes no sense as Pakistan were already well on top in the game so it wasn't like they were desperate for a wicket and he resorted to cheating to get it, very odd, "moment of madness" is about the only way to describe it.

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Maranello

He realises that he will carry this stigma for the rest of his life - hopefully, that will help mature him as a person and also prevent any further violations.

I think this sums up Afridi's attitude - it wasn't a sinister or calculated move, but a moment of immature stupidity. Azhar Mahmood suggested Afridi was more immature than anything else, and he knows him pretty well. I remember a couple of our players doing the same thing in a school match - it's schoolboy behaviour. It doesn't take away from the fact that it's cheating. But hopefully Afridi will learn to improve from this, and he seems to have made an appropriate response so far.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Victor Frankenstein

it just makes no sense as Pakistan were already well on top in the game so it wasn't like they were desperate for a wicket and he resorted to cheating to get it, very odd, "moment of madness" is about the only way to describe it.

Whatever the reason VIC he did it and was punished, and to me that was an end to the matter, the fact that he has apologised is a very big bonus.
The fact is also most of the bad feeling has been caused by supporters, not copied to that extent in Pakistan.

[Victor Frankenstein]

is there really that much bad feeling? i've not noticed any particularly bad posts unless someone's been editing them all, certainly nothing much on the other forums i post on and doesn't look like there's any trouble in the crowd over it. It helps that it was dealt with straight away and he immediately apologised, my only problem with the affair is that it seems daft to ban someone from the next game but let them remain in the current one, i think it sets a bad precedent for what you could get up to during a game and gave an example of a world cup final, but other than that i consider the incident to be over and have got on with watching the cricket.

[Zainub]

That's more like it. IMHO he should have done this eariler.

All of this is commendable, the fact that the ICC responded quickly, the fact that Afridi has come out and said what he has, and also the fact that KP has also hinted it's not going to be something that will sour the comradory between the two sides. Up until mid-night yesterday, I was firmly of the opinion that Afridi's actions deserved a more serious punishment, in the least something that could in affect rule him out of any further participation in this match, but now, after reading all this, I've got thinking again. May be we should after all move ahead. Yes, the punishment could be extended a bit, but I don't think I'd like to tag him a 'cheat' for rest of his life because of it. After all, we all make mistakes, don't we? I can speak for my self, and I have had my fair share of "moments of madness".

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Victor Frankenstein

is there really that much bad feeling? i've not noticed any particularly bad posts unless someone's been editing them all, certainly nothing much on the other forums

Bad feeling may be strong, however there has been some bad temper.
Also there seems Victor to be more interest in the antics of Bell, Afridi, Harmison, the umpires than cricket at times.

To me you get incidents at every Test it seems, but more and more they are getting blown out of all proportion, what's been done-has been done, and look at the state of the cricket now, far more interesting that Afridi scuffing up the pitch, or Harmison sending exocets at Inzi.

I just hope England don't get bowled out by Kaneria bowling into the scuff marks made by Afridi, or that being made as an excuse.

[Zainub]

I don't think there has been bad tamper either, just a lot of passionate posting.