Sinister, extraordinary and heartbreaking

While there is an understandable desire for swift resolution, the complexity of the spot-fixing case and the need to get any punishments absolutely spot on means that the ICC must take its time here, writes Rob Smyth in the Guardian.

Perhaps the desire for smallish bans simply stems from a need to see Amir again. The thought that his career is over is far too heartbreaking to even consider. It is his involvement that has made this case so sickening and sad. We tend to reach for hyperbole at times like these, but Amir really is comparable with any 18-year-old bowler in the history of the game. And those who would easily dismiss him as a greedy deviant should recall his overwhelming joy at taking a Lord's five-for on Friday, when he bent down to kiss the turf. The News of the World described it as "a kiss of betrayal", but it wasn't: it was the kiss of a kid who adores the game. He may have done something gravely wrong; if so, we must hope the ICC does not compound it with a hasty and excessive punishment.

Omar Waraich of the Independent joins the former Pakistan captain Imran Khan as he tours his flood-stricken country on a relief mission – and tries to make sense of the betting scandal gripping cricket.

The controversy recalls a moment in 1989, when he [Imran Khan] was warned of a plot to corrupt his team. "I was called in the middle of the night," he says. "It was the final of the Australasia Cup against Australia in Sharjah. I was told that four of our main players had either been bought or would throw the match.

The next morning, Mr Khan summoned his team. "I told them, 'Look, I know all of you and I know cricket. If I see any of you underperforming, I will not just have you banned, I will ensure that you go to jail." He told the coach to bet the team's entire prize money on winning. It worked. "We won the match," he says, and later it was "confirmed that bookmakers had tried to influence the players".

Amid Pakistan's general lawlessness, is it any wonder that cricketers have lost their way? asks Mustafa Qadri in the Guardian.

Pakistan is a different country now, overpopulated and underdeveloped with a government that doesn't even pretend to care unless you have money, influence, or the media puts you under the lens. The overwhelming mindset for success is to achieve it at all costs, by any means, and as quickly as possible.

The shambolic Pakistan Cricket Board has no system for preparing our cricketers for the demands of international sport, from the most basic to the more complex. So it is no surprise that athletes with astounding natural abilities exhibit self-destructive tendencies.