Johannesburg: Former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher has backed former England batsman Kevin Pietersen`s opinion to impose life bans on players found involved in match-fixing ,doping or cheating.
Pietersen, who writes for a London-based daily, shared his latest column on Twitter demanding that spot-fixers should be banned for life and that they should not be given a second chance."
They have broken the rules, should pay the price and not be given a second chance.
If you cheat the system either by taking drugs or money to under-perform then you are mugging the spectators, your teammates and a sport that has been around a lot longer than you," Pietersen wrote.Pietersen`s comments came in response to the Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir`s return to the Test arena following a five-year suspension for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal.
The 24-year-old, who also served a prison sentence in the United Kingdom for his role in the infamous case, will aim to erase his sordid past when he will resume his Test career at Lord`s-- the scene of the fixing scandal-- on Thursday.
Amir, along with former skipper Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, were found guilty of various offences of corrupt behaviour relating to the Lord`s Test between England and Pakistan in August 2010 by the independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal in February 2011.
Backing Pietersen`s comments on a micro blogging website Twitter, Boucher agreed that that the match-fixers should be barred from the sport completely,Sport24 reported.
"Good article @KP24! Honest opinion that I fully agree with!" the Proteas player tweeted.Boucher, who appeared in 147 Tests for South Africa and completed a world record 555 Test dismissals, was forced to retire from the game in 2012 after a bail struck his eye, resulting in a career-ending injury.
