Don't rush to judgment

Don't rush to judgment on this Marlon Samuels issue, even if it seems everyone else is. Within three hours of the information being released by Nagpur police on Wednesday afternoon, Indian television news channels were already speculating that the 26-year-old Jamaican's taped telephone conversations with an alleged bookmaker would not only spell the end of his career, but also prove very damaging for the entire West Indies effort as hosts of the upcoming World Cup.

A journalist colleague from that country advised that his information suggested that other West Indian players on that short tour and one or two Indians are also implicated in what he fears is developing into a deepening scandal that will be very, very bad for West Indies cricket. At the other end of the reactionary scale, Samuels's mother was pleading his innocence, stating emphatically that her son would never be involved in such nefarious activities as passing on confidential team information on the eve of a match to someone with known links to the gambling underworld.

So is he guilty or not guilty? Come on, come on, we need an answer now! We're coming up to deadline and we have to beat the competition! Careful analysis and investigation? We don't have time for that! What you feel this is - the Geriatric Network!?

It's something like the fog of war. Unless you wait a while for things to clear up, it's quite likely that guns could be pointed in the wrong direction. And, in any case, these are not the life-or-death circumstances of a real conflict, although in the modern cut-throat media environment, the prospect of a juicy scandal on the eve of a major international sporting event is even more newsworthy than a few dozen worthless lives being lost in the latest bombing in Baghdad.

No appeal to reason is going to stop the speculation. That's just the way of the world. In an environment where everything is either black or white and grey areas are frowned upon, it is quite likely that the majority of West Indians will rally to the defence of their fellow countryman, while at the same time questioning the integrity and intent of the law enforcement personnel in Nagpur. Conspiracy theories have already taken root, and even in this dry season, will flourish in the coming days.

Across the "Kala Pani" to India, it would be equally understandable if the prevailing mood there is one of praise for the Nagpur police, who have displayed efficiency and competence in their investigations, so confounding the popular misconception of the Indian constabulary as a motley assortment of bumbling fools, an image fuelled and spread internationally for decades through the medium of Indian movies.

Both sides will draw on supporting evidence. No West Indian cricketer has yet been implicated in any match-fixing or bribery-related enquiry.

Speculation and investigation, yes. But, so far, no player from these territories has had to endure the humiliation of a Hansie Cronje, Mohammad Azharuddin or Salim Malik - all banned for life from the game for their roles in cricketing corruption.

At the same time that the motives of the police are being questioned, it will be pointed out that even worse was said of investigators in Delhi when they first levelled match-fixing allegations at Cronje almost exactly seven years ago. In the white Afrikaaner heartland of Free State, the then South African captain's home province, there were racist overtones to the disdainful dismissal of the accusations, only for the Indian police to be proven dead right.

If Samuels is found guilty of knowingly passing on team information prior to a match to a bookie, then he is deserving of whatever punishment stipulated in the ICC Code of Conduct. If he was naive or foolish or not thinking about what he was doing, he should still face some form of censure for such irresponsible behaviour

So this is a time to tread carefully, even if everyone is scrambling to be the first to break the latest news. Going on reports that appeared in print yesterday, the officer spearheading the investigation in Nagpur stated that Indian cricket authorities had been notified, although BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said he was unaware of any such formal communication.

Quite appropriately, officials in Jamaica and at the level of the West Indies Cricket Board are adopting a wait-and-see approach, advising that, to that time, they had not received any word from the BCCI or ICC, and therefore could not comment on media speculation.

That speculation could be ridiculously inflammatory or inferred. The headline-grabbing soundbites from "experts" are obvious enough, but when an AFP report states that Samuels "gave away" 53 runs in his ten-over spell in Nagpur, even Inspector Jacques Clouseau can pick up the hint. That the Jamaican's effort in an Indian innings of 338 was actually one of the more economical is a contextual fact that robs the inference of its punch, hence the reason for leaving it out.

If Samuels is found guilty of knowingly passing on team information prior to a match to a bookie, then he is deserving of whatever punishment stipulated in the ICC Code of Conduct. If he was naive or foolish or not thinking about what he was doing (an apparently inherent occupational hazard with young people), he should still face some form of censure for such irresponsible behaviour.

If, however, he is completely innocent, as claimed in the brief comments attributed to him, then he has nothing to worry about and the media can say what they want. He will be vindicated in the end.

That end, however, may be some distance away, and it would be better for his sake if he and his minders (of which I'm sure there are many) just shut up, except when the official investigators come a-calling.