Former Australian fast bowler Geoff Lawson considers the forthcoming short visit by his country's cricket team to India as a very important tour in the background of the 'spot-fixing' scandal that has engulfed the game.
"This Australia-India series is very important. People in Australia are looking forward to the Ashes. A good, tough and hard series before the Ashes will do a lot to retain people's faith in the game. We will start to think about the current cricket, not the one which has gone before," said the 52-year-old New South Welshman in an interaction with a few reporters on Tuesday, during his brief visit to Mumbai.
"If the players play good cricket and the public see good cricket, they will forget what's gone before. The people want their heroes to play well. There wasn't a hero in this (controversy)," he said.
The former cricketer, who was the coach of the Pakistan team for two years and has seen from close quarters the spot-fixing tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamir, was confident the game would come out of the latest scandal as it has done several times in the past.
"Cricket is such a resilient game. People in Australia are looking forward to the Ashes. The more, better and competitive cricket is played, the game will just move on," said the gangling Lawson when asked whether the game can bounce back in style.
{{/usCountry}}"Cricket is such a resilient game. People in Australia are looking forward to the Ashes. The more, better and competitive cricket is played, the game will just move on," said the gangling Lawson when asked whether the game can bounce back in style.
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