It took exactly 15 months for the London Metropolitan Police to complete investigation and get conviction of Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer for spot-fixing in the Lord's Test last year. Delhi Police are still struggling to piece together a charge sheet 11 years after blowing the lid off the match-fixing.
Three former Pakistan international cricketers were escorted from the dock by prison officers on Thursday after being handed combined jail sentences totalling four years for their part in the spot-fixing plot in their Test match against England at Lord's last year.
Salman Butt, the Pakistan captain during that Test and a man described by Mr Justice Cooke as "the orchestrator of this activity", was jailed for 30 months.
Mohammad Asif, who bowled one of three prearranged no-balls at the centre of the conspiracy, was given a year in prison. Mohammad Amir, who at the time of his crime was only 18 years old, was given a six-month sentence. They must serve half of their sentences before release on licence, and must do so in English prisons.
It is a heavy price to pay for three men who, as the judge recognised, had until last year been "heroes" for their nation and icons in their sport.
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