When does punishment cease to be punishment and instead, degenerate into an unabashed witch-hunt?

Or, to put it in context, when do we say “enough is enough”, that the young Mohammed Amir has more than paid for his sins, and that it is time now to embrace him?

Is the answer “never”?

The questions become relevant as the debate over Amir’s future attracts new comments with each passing day, many of them uncharitable.

At this juncture, it may not perhaps be too out of place to take look at what is happening in far-off England with Chris Lewis, the former England star disgraced and jailed for smuggling in cocaine.

About 10 weeks from now, the tainted cricketer will hit the English county circuit as a counsellor. To paraphrase that beautiful Beatles song, he will get by – with a little bit help from his friends.

Helping him find his feet will be the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), the representative lobby for English national and county players, a body Lewis is a member of.

Instead of turning its back on a cricketer once touted as the next great English all-rounder, the PCA set about engaging him in its awareness programme for other cricketers.

In the process, it is set to give Lewis a life after jail.

The Chris Lewis Story

Lewis enjoyed a successful county career with Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey and played in 32 Tests and 53 ODIs in an England career that lasted eight years. 

He retired from cricket in 2000 with no clear plans for the future, but did attempt a T20 comeback with Surrey in 2008 that left him injured, forcing him to leave cricket for good.

The same year in October, Lewis was arrested at Gatwick Airport, London for smuggling liquid cocaine into England from St Lucia – which was hidden in fruit juice tins in his cricket bag.

It later transpired that evaporating off the liquid would yield 3.75 kg of pure cocaine worth £140,000.

A court in 2011 sentenced Lewis to 13 years in jail but released him this June for good behaviour, much like Amir who served a truncated sentence.

But unlike the latter, the return of Lewis may not be that traumatic, thanks to PCA.

Throughout his time in prison, PCA assistant chief executive Jason Ratcliffe was in contact with him – as a friend.

“First and foremost our role is to help where possible,” Ratcliffe told Dawn in an email.

“And despite not condoning his actions, I was an ex-colleague and we were old mates from 25 years of cricket.”

Embracing their Own

Apart from lending a shoulder, Ratcliffe also hoped Lewis would be willing to speak about his experiences to help the current crop of county players and the youth.

“I went with a non-judgemental approach and gleaned far more about his circumstances and what led to his actions than anticipated,” he said.

“We can use that positively to educate others.”

Plus, Ratcliffe argued, Chris has “always been a popular man and has paid the penalty for his crime”.

According to PCA spokesperson Paul Bolton, Lewis is keen that the others should learn from his traumatic experience.

“He has committed to joining us for those activities,” Bolton told this writer.

Lewis will speak to first-year county professionals at a PCA Rookie Camp on February 16 and join its programme of pre-season county visits in March, where he will meet the seniors.

He has also given a filmed interview to PCA about his experiences, which was released the day he left prison in June.

“It is available for past and present players to watch,” said Bolton.

Going by a statement that PCA released on his behalf, Lewis is not ungrateful for the leg-up, saying his former colleagues have been “extremely helpful”.

“It’s actually nice to be back and by back, I mean back to being me. You would think that perhaps I would be apprehensive. I am excited.”

Scant Support for Amir

In Pakistan, Amir’s experience has been a little less comforting. He was pilloried by all and sundry, and a petition was even filed in the Sindh High Court seeking a lifetime ban on him.

Players former and current – from Sarfraz Nawaz and Ramiz Raja to Mohammed Hafeez – have spoken out against accommodating him in Pakistani cricket’s future.

The only sensible word of support seems to have come from Shoaib Akhtar, who himself had been banned once for failing a dope test.

The former fast bowler talked of the need for professional counselling for Amir soon after his release.

And two months ago, in what should definitely be a morale booster for Amir, he said he wanted to buy a team in the proposed Pakistan Super League, and that the youngster would figure in it.

Perhaps those baying for Amir’s blood would do well to remember Jason Ratcliffe’s observation on what led Chris Lewis to try and smuggle in cocaine – the need for cash for an uncertain life after cricket.

The obvious difference here is the fact that Lewis had ended an unfulfilled career while Amir had everything to play for.

“Chris and many others didn’t have this type of support network while playing, and whilst this isn’t an excuse for his actions, [it] would surely have helped alleviate the fear he describes,” he said.

Without going into a debate over which is worse – cocaine smuggling or spot-fixing, though most people would say dealing in narcotics is evil, and therefore the bigger crime – the fact is both Lewis and Amir are repentant.

Time to tell Amir there is nothing to fear and that Pakistan’s cricketing fraternity is behind him?