Watson bats for life bans for corruption in cricket

Melbourne: Australia vice captain Shane Watson feels that life bans should be handed out to corrupt cricketers to send out a strong signal to others.

Watson`s comments came after three Pakistani cricketers-- Salman Butt, Mohhamed Asif and Mohammad Amir -- were sentenced to jail after being found guilty in a spot-fixing scandal. Former captain Butt was sentenced to two-and-a-half years while fast bowlers Asif and Amir received 12 and six-month terms respectively. "In the end, I think a life ban is surely enough to be able to say to people that it`s the wrong thing to do. It`s challenging the integrity and taking the game of cricket down," said Watson. "Whether it`s jail, whether it`s a life [playing] sentence, there`s no doubt that the punishments are very severe for doing the wrong thing. Since I first started playing, you know that if you do something wrong in that regard you won`t be playing cricket ever again," he said. The burly all-rounder said the Pakistani trio has got the treatment they deserved for their action. "It`s very disappointing when you see the things that have happened in England with the Pakistan guys and, in the end, they deserve the punishment that they do get because they`ve done the wrong thing in a big way.” "For me personally, it`s given me an amazing life and something I only ever dreamed of, so I would never would want to do anything that even questioned the ability for me to be able to play the game that I love so much," he told Australian Associated Press. PTI