Behind the headlines

In the Woolmer episode, speculation took a vicious turn, fed by sensationalism, racism and lazy thinking, writes Mike Marqusee in The Hindu.

Newspapers across the world leapt from bald facts to elaborate conspiracy theories. The Pakistanis had thrown the Ireland match, or perhaps the West Indies match; Woolmer had been about to blow the whistle and paid the price. There was no evidence to support any of these far-fetched plot-turns, but that didn’t stop some of Britain’s foremost cricket journalists from drawing the most damning conclusions about Pakistan and its cricketers.

Also read Peter Roebuck's piece in Cricinfo on the same issue.