Pakistan betting scandal: Analysis of what the high commissioner said

The Pakistani high commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has said that the three players at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations – Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt – are "extremely" disturbed by events in the last week and that they would not be in the right frame of mind to play again in England this summer. It was a carefully thought-out statement. During the last 24 hours Hasan has had to find a way of pleasing the people back in Pakistan while also responding to pressure from the England and Wales Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council to make sure that the three players did not play on. Analysis Following the late-night intervention of the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt, who appeared to upset the pathway to the carefully negotiated solution desired by the ECB and the ICC, talks continued well into the night. The high commissioner had to find a formulation of words that would play well domestically – backing the players in their claims of innocence – while also satisfying ECB and ICC demands to omit the players from the rest of the tour. It was always assumed that the escape route Pakistan would use would be to blame the pressure on the players for the decision to omit them. But Hasan went further by using emotive language to described the "mental torture" affecting the players. The statement "The three players have said they are extremely disturbed with what has happened in the past week specially with regard to their alleged involvement in the crime. They mention that they are entirely innocent in the whole episode and shall defend their innocence as such. They further maintain that on account of the mental torture which has deeply affected them all they are not in the right frame of mind to play the remaining matches. Therefore, they have requested the PCB not to consider them for the remaining matches till their names are cleared."