Day 21 of the spot fixing trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. If yesterday’s frenetic pace of developments where the jurors delivered guilty verdicts on both defendents left many breathless, at the end of today’s proceedings they wouldn’t have been without a tear in their eyes.

It was day 21 of the spot fixing trial today at Southwark Crown Court in London. If yesterday’s frenetic pace of developments where the jurors delivered guilty verdicts on both defendants left many breathless, at the end of today’s proceedings they wouldn’t have been without a tear in their eyes.

The main purpose of today’s sessions was for Justice Cooke to consider arguments before delivering sentences to the guilty parties.

In today’s proceedings, we would expect to see none of the false bravado or posturing. The capacity crowd was not to be disappointed.

The day began at 10 am when Mohammed Amir, who it was officially revealed had already accepted his guilt, appeared in the dock alongside Mohammed Asif and Salman Butt, his former National Bank and Pakistan team mates – the first time all 3 accused shared a courtroom. During the course of the day and as restrictions on reporting were lifted, it also became evident that Mazhar Majeed – to many, the ‘Godfather’ figure of the group of fixers, was also present in the courtroom. He, just like Amir, had also pleaded guilty a few weeks ago, but that could not be reported due to reporting restrictions.

What followed next will remain etched in the collective psyche of millions of fans of this great game and especially those who considered the three players as their idols.

The lawyers for each of the three guilty players and that of Mazhar Majeed proceeded to what can politely be described as a pathetic attempt to seek clemency for their clients.

Mitigating factors were presented for each of the three players and the court asked to consider their families, careers with a view primarily of avoiding a jail sentence.

Salman Butt’s plea for mercy was centred around his financial ruins and stress on family, now compounded by the birth of a newborn. 

Asif’s legal team, on the other hand, based their plea on his reputational damage arguing that he was “jobless, in debt, convicted and subject of complete ignominy, disgrace, humiliation”.

The three words above - ignominy, disgrace and humiliation - incidentally, also described the moral state of Pakistani cricket when the three were caught red-handed last summer. How the average Pakistani fan will ever forgive these players for the mental anguish caused is yet to be seen.

Amir’s plea relied on his innocence and acceptance of guilt. In a remorseful statement he stated that "I don't know if cricket will ever want me again”. 

In addition, messages of support for Amir's plea came from Imran Khan and Michael Holding and an article from Michael Atherton were read out. Whether the young man’s status as one of the most exciting talents to appear on the world scene will be considered relevant for consideration is up to the court, but Amir’s statement was possibly the most moving aspect of this whole sordid saga.

Mazhar Majeed's attempt at staving off a jail sentence was based on not his greed but the greed of others – he essentially laid the blame on the players, arguing that it was their insistence to cheat that lead him to become a middleman for another bookie, identified as “Sanjay”. 

Mazhar continued his pseudo-name dropping spree with mention of ‘other’ players who were also involved but not present in the dock today.

An extraordinary afternoon ended when Judge Cooke retired for the day at around 4pm. The final sentences will be delivered around 10am tomorrow morning.

The final word on Pakistani cricket and its future will, thankfully, not be delivered here – the immediate future of the nation’s cricketing powers lies in the hands of Misbah-ul-Haq’s men who will attempt to scale the Test Cricket rankings by defeating Sri Lanka in Sharjah tomorrow.