Prohibition Doesn't Work: Cricket & Gambling Edition

The News of the World’s revelations about connivance between cricketers and bookmakers is dismaying; the story can’t alas, be considered wholly surprising. If proved – and on the face of it there’s every reason to suppose that the allegations are accurate – then it’s difficult to see how Salman Butt and the other players implicated can escape heavy punishment (and perhaps in the skipper’s case a lifetime ban).

The consolation, in as much as there is one, is that the evidence points to spot-fixing rather than match-fixing. Saying that the former is not as serious as the latter does not mean it’s unserious. It just means that matters could be worse. And perhaps they are, given how much we don’t know. (For my part, I don’t much care if meaningless One Day fixtures are corrupted – not least since they only exist for commerical reasons – but I’d hope, optimistically it seems, that the players might have enough respect for themselves and for the game to recognise that Test cricket is a different beast that should be played honestly.)