Tainted former Pakistan bowler Mohammad Asif says he wasn't the first nor would he be the last to have indulged in spot-fixing and should have been treated better by his country's Cricket Board, which gave "everyone a second chance" except for him.
Asif was banned for seven years for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal during Pakistan's tour of England, where he bowled deliberate no balls for money. He also served jail time in the UK after being found guilty along with Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt.
Asif said he should have got a second chance like many others, whom he did not name.
"Everyone makes mistakes and I did too. Players had been indulging in fixing before me and even after me. But those before me are working with PCB and there are few after me still playing," Asif told ESPNCricinfo.
"Everyone was given a second chance and there are few who never got the same treatment (as me). PCB never tried to save me regardless of the fact that I am the kind of bowler who was highly regarded by everyone in the world.
"But anyway I'm not sitting around brooding about the past or hung up on it."
Asif said he takes pride in the performances he dished out in his limited career.
"However much I played in my career, I made it count, duniya hila ke rakh di thi (I shook up the world). That is more important for me to think about. Even today, so many years later, the best batsmen in the world still remember me and they talk about me.
"Just think how big the impact was that I had on the world. So this is what makes me proud - that there is a reason KP, AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla talk highly about me. That is what makes me happy."
The 37-year-old, who also failed a dope test in 2006 and served a one year suspension for it, admitted that he "should have behaved better off the field".
"That is where I had issues. I want to give the kids this message that when you cross the boundary line into the field, your ambition should be to do well for yourself and for your team."
"I was selfish as a bowler because I wanted to take wickets, and that was to help the team win. Being selfish isn't bad if you're playing your part for the team," he said.
Asif remembered the days when he made the ball talk and created a lasting impression on players like Wasim Akram and Mudassar Naazar.
"I proved myself not just once but repeatedly. I got the same batsmen out more than once, and it's not like I bowled one fluke great delivery and never did it again.
"With ball in hand I was in control. Moving the ball in and out wasn't just a one-off thing. And I didn't learn to do it in days. It took me years and I worked really hard for it."
Asif did not like the fact that Amir retired from Test cricket at the age of 27, saying he let PCB down with his decision since the Board helped him a lot in his difficult time.
"I curse the PCB for how they rescued his career. But it was his obligation to help Pakistan cricket in a tough situation and he should have stayed, especially when they had helped him return."
"If they (the PCB) had done the same with me, then I'd still be available to rescue Pakistan in Test cricket for the next two years. I know there are fitness standards, but I can work that out and whatever is required I can do it."
Federline’s book tells some wild stories, such as a knife in the doorway.
He is pushing this “Save Britney” angle now, which is quite a shift.
Britney says she has barely seen the children.
She calls the book a money-making play, hitting right when child support dried up.
Alright, so Kevin Federline has a book coming out. And it is, predictably, causing earthquakes. Britney Spears just threw petrol on the fire with a raw social media post. She is done staying quiet. The ex-husband’s memoir, You Thought You Knew, is packed with claims about her mental state and parenting. And Britney? She is not having it. Not one bit.
Britney Spears shares a blunt statement online in response to Kevin Federline’s new book Getty Images
What is actually in this book?
Federline does not hold back. The excerpts are intense. He says their sons would wake up to find Britney just standing there, watching them sleep, holding a knife. Then she would wander off. He also talks about cocaine use while breastfeeding. His whole point is that ending the conservatorship was a massive error. He says things are spiralling fast. He uses phrases like “the eleventh hour.”
She did not just get angry. She got specific. The “constant gaslighting” is what she calls it. And then she dropped the real bomb about her sons. Think about that. One child, forty-five minutes of face time in five whole years. The other, just four visits. How does that even happen? She says she is “demoralised.” You can feel the defeat in her words. But she is done begging and says from now on, she will let them know when she is available. It is a power move, but a sad one.
Britney surely thinks so. Her statement basically says the “white lies” are heading “straight to the bank.” And she is not wrong about the timing, is she? The child support from her finally ended, and suddenly there is a book full of these private, painful stories. It is pretty convenient. Her team’s statement was even more direct, pointing the finger right at the profit motive.
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