Stuart Broad has no problems to shake hand with Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir when the duo faces each other at Lord’s in 11 days.
It will certainly grab headlines in British media. Broad may never forgive Amir for the major part he played in cricket’s worst corruption scandal ever in English soil but he’s willing to accept he has a future in the game.
Much water has passed under the bridge since Broad and Amir last faced each other in a Test match on the same ground, when the English cricketer smashed his only Test century to date in the 2010 Test during which Amir, Mohammad Asif and then captain Salman Butt were shockingly exposed as spot-fixers by a newspaper sting.
24-year-old Amir had to serve three months in Portland Young Offenders Institution and a five-year ban from cricket as the trio and crooked agent Mazhar Majeed were found guilty at Southwark Crown Court for accepting corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat at gambling.
Broad then dedicated his maiden Test century to his step-mother Miche only two days before discovering no-balls were being bowled intentionally during his innings. He since then won four Ashes series and have become the world’s No 1 bowler while claiming career best Test figures of eight for 15 against Australia last summer.
But the scars always will remain. There is bitter frustration, even a cold anger, for a sport Broad has loved his entire life was so brutally abused by Amir, Butt and Asif, while the nightmarish memories of the 2010 summer are still fresh in his mind.
“I remember driving home after that Lord’s Test and just wanting to be alone,” he told The Mail on Sunday. “I wanted to be at home. I didn’t want to see or hear any more news on it because we had a one-day series to play and we had to try to focus on that.”
“Swanny had got a five-for and ended up on the honours board on the Sunday morning after the allegations broke but he didn’t even crack a smile. He was probably the most emotional about it. He won’t mind me saying that.”
“The three Pakistan players had let the game down massively. There were no celebrations whatsoever after the game. We’d won the series but we didn’t even share a beer. We just wanted to get away.
“Of course it annoys me that that game will always be connected with what went on. Lord’s is the home of cricket. It’s a wonderful place to play and that Test match will always be remembered for the wrong reasons.
“It was my best-ever innings, my only Test century and coming in tough circumstances as well. It was a good battle and I’ll never forget the feeling I got running through for that hundred.”
“From what we know, the three Pakistan players weren’t actually fixing the game as a whole — a no-ball doesn’t affect if I hit a four or not — so I can still look back with a lot of pride on scoring that hundred. But of course it was tarnished by what happened.”
Former England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke was so incensed by the revelations published in the now defunct News of the World that he even refused to shake Amir’s hand during the awards ceremony at Lord’s.
But with the ECB facing the prospect of having to refund millions of pounds to broadcasters, ticket holders and venues, it was decided to continue with the one-day series as planned.