Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, was given a sentence of two and a half years, while Mohammad Asif got one year and Mohammad Amir got six months. The players’ agent, Mazhar Majeed, was given the longest sentence of all, two years and eight months.

The players were all found guilty of cheating and accepting illegal payments. Spot fixing is where a player will agree to do something at a particular point in a match, such as bowl a no-ball. The News of the World newspaper (which has now closed) set up a sting operation where they gave Majeed money to arrange several no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England in August last year.

The judge, Justice Cooke, said that fans would be more suspicious in the future when watching cricket matches.

However, it’s not all bad! In the same week as the Pakistan players were sentenced, experts at the Institute of Youth Sport at Loughborough University released their report into the Chance to Shine programme, which aims to get more cricket played in schools.

Teachers and pupils were interviewed for the report, and the feedback seems to be positive. Many thought that playing cricket helped students to co-operate better with others, and that it helped them to cope better with defeat and other negative situations.

Some teachers said that their pupils were better-behaved and more supportive of others. Using cricket examples in subjects like maths was also said to help with learning and understanding.

What do you think of cricket? Does ithelp you at school? Has the court case changed the way you think about it? Were the sentences fair? We want your opinions, so tell us below!