Dean Jones: ‘Getting a punch in the mouth’

SHARJAH: Dean Jones, the Islamabad United coach, has said that the HBL Pakistan Super League corruption scandal involving two of his team’s key players was like getting a “punch in the mouth”.

The former Australia Test star hoped that Islamabad’s “senior guys such as captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson, Sam Badree and Dwayne Smith will guide our team through these murky waters.”

Jones said that Islamabad were shocked when news of the scandal involving Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif broke earlier this week.

“It’s been a very tough week for my beloved Islamabad United team, where I am the head coach for this year’s Pakistan Twenty20 Super League. It was only a year ago that we won the first PSL with a team that I was so proud of, but after the recent events, we have been to hell and back.

“One of my favourite sporting quotes is from former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson: “Everybody
has a game plan until they
get punched in the mouth.”

“Well, after a gutsy first-up win against Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United were given the worst punch in the mouth. Only 12 hours after our great win I was urgently called in to speak to our director of cricket, cricketing icon Wasim Akram, and our owner, Ali Naqvi. They told me that two of our most senior players — Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif — were provisionally suspended for alleged involvement in corruption. I felt like I was about to vomit. Wasim and I were almost in tears. We had invested so much time to get these two boys into form and playing for Pakistan.

“Then our beloved captain Misbah-ul-Haq arrived and he was given the news. Misbah’s immediate response is one I will never forget. He just froze. His face and body looked like the life had been drained out of it. He could barely breathe, let alone speak.

“This is a time I want our senior guys such as Misbah, Haddin, Shane Watson, Sam Badree and Dwayne Smith to guide our team through these murky waters.

“We are the mates of these players and we will stand next to them and help them through this awful time. But I applaud the PCB and the ICC on how they have handled this matter. It acted swiftly and with authority. As a coach and as a team, we have been delivered terrible news. Since last week, I have also been attacked by former Pakistani players claiming that I had, in the past, been found guilty of association with a bookmaker, which was completely false. But we will cope, because we have to. We are a proud team who will upheld the great traditions of the game we love.

“Every sport has to deal with this cancer of corruption. We all must remain vigilant to maintain the integrity of the sport. While many coaches and staff try to keep our game clean, I find it hard to swallow that many cricket boards around the world have got commercial partnerships with online betting companies and it’s advertised all over the ground. The hypocrisy of it all! And we are the ones who have to pick up the pieces.”