Sigh. It had all started so well for Salman Butt.
Having kicked off his Pakistan captaincy with a first test win over Australia in 15 years, reducing the Aussies to their lowest innings score for 50 years, all looked rosy for the new skipper.
Having replaced the ever popular Shahid Afridi, there was always going to be pressure on Butt, but here was this team of young, talented players, beating the Aussies in style.
The future looked bright. Or so we all believed.
Now Butt stands as the leader of a side that was blitzed by England, bowled out for less than three figures on numerous occasions, and faces an inquest into allegations of match fixing.
Butt himself is a suspect in all this, one of three players to have the mobile phones confiscated, whilst Mazhar Majeed has been arrested twice in relation to it.
Afridi had apparently told his men to stay away from Majeed repeatedly during his captaincy. That seems to have been over-ruled with the new leader.
It had all started promising as well for Mohammed Amir, with the fast bowler announcing himself on the scene with an array of impressive appearances.
He took wickets left, right and centre, being one of the main reasons that England’s batsmen were being routinely described as ‘out of form’ by the media.
Still only 18 years of age, his career stands in ruin after himself getting involved in this scandal.
Talked about as one of the finest bowlers around at such a young age, with all the potential to be the best, it is a shame for him to have become embroiled in disgrace, with Pakistan fans calling for his exclusion from the squad for bringing shame to the country.
One can only question why these players have given into this, and helped defraud the bookmakers.
Rumours have appeared in regards to the kidnapping of families. Others suggest that the new players in the Pakistan national team set-up are just not receiving a suitable wage, thus making them prime targets for match-fixers.
Either way, this is just the latest in a long line of cricketing controversies that Pakistan have tended to dominate.
After a decade of failed doping tests, ball tampering and a ban on playing matches at home due to terrorist activities, Pakistan has seen its name dragged through the mud repeatedly.
With his name now being slated back home, Butt is facing one of the shortest and most disastrous captaincies in the history of cricket.
In a time where Pakistan has suffered tragedy with the flooding back home, they really needed their sporting heroes to step up to the mark and give them something to smile about. This isn’t quite what they had in mind.
Sam Parker's Sports Talk 