At a time when the governing bodies of athletics and football remain in the mire for their own respective crises, the likes of which we have never seen before, it is perhaps easy to forget the damaging issues cricket has faced over the years.

But these issues and wounds within the sport have been thrust back into the limelight lately with the return of Pakistani spot-fixers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir to the cricketing scene, sending a wave of disturbing memories flooding back to our thoughts.

The trio were convicted of taking bribes from a bookmaker in return for bowling no-balls at specific points of a Test match against England at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2010, sending shockwaves through the cricketing world as we knew it.

Butt was given the longest sentence behind bars as he was jailed for 30 months, though he was let out after eight, and Asif served half of a one-year term. Amir did three of his initial six-month sentence.

As well as serving prison time, the three players, who had brought shame on their country as well as their sport, were given substantial five-year bans by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Many thought their bans should have been longer.

Former captain Butt, whose Test career yielded a handy 1,889 runs in 33 matches, and fast-bowler Asif attracted all the headlines this week as they had a key role in the Water Development and Power Authority’s 141-run victory over Federally Administered Tribal Areas in a domestic one-day cup match in Hyderabad.

Butt served up a positive reminder of his cricketing talents in his comeback game as he smashed 135 off 143 balls, while the tall, commanding presence of Asif took two wickets for 22 runs. Hardly a meteoric return, but a start nonetheless.

Amir, meanwhile, who was just 18 at the time of the aforementioned spot-fixing Test match, has been named in the Pakistan squad for their tour of New Zealand, which began with the opening Twenty20 international match at Eden Park in Auckland yesterday, sparking outrage among some of his teammates who haven’t yet forgiven him for his sins.

One-day captain Azhar Ali and batsman Mohammad Hafeez spoke with their feet as they boycotted a recent training camp in protest at his inclusion in the squad. Clearly the scars within Pakistani cricket remain deep.

Ali even tendered his resignation as captain, which was swiftly rejected by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and even he may have been ever-so slightly peeved when coach Waqar Younis, regarded as one of the game’s greatest-ever pacemen, opened the door for the potential return of Butt and Asif to the international team providing their form justifies selection.

“The way I see it if Butt and Asif perform well in their comeback in domestic cricket, why can’t they be considered for a second chance to play international cricket?” Younis said earlier this week.

“All the three committed the same wrong and also underwent the same punishment so why should they be treated differently?

“Look we basically cut their hands by banning them from all cricket for five years, it was a strong punishment for what they did.

“Now that they have served their punishment and appear to have learnt their lesson why shouldn’t they be given a second chance, it could also be good for Pakistan cricket.”

Despite Younis’ iconic and legendary status, there will be many who disagree with his view. After all, the disrepute the actions the trio brought on cricket, Pakistan and sport as a whole cannot simply be brushed under the carpet.

While they may not have covered up positive doping tests or bribed their way to the hotseat of a world governing body, their manipulation of a seemingly-minor element of the sport was no-less damning as they exploited the game they supposedly love for financial gain, lacing their pockets with corrupt cash from a corrupt bookie.

And they did not just do this at a minor level. They were representing their country - they were national heroes who were tasked with embarking on a tour of England and winning cricket matches, but instead, three of them opted to use it to earn a quick yet costly buck.

It also gave their English opposition the slenderest of advantages as, with each no-ball that was deliberately bowled, the scoreboard would tick over with an extra run here and there.

On the other hand, there will be those who feel they have served their time and deserve to have their careers reignited by being reintegrated into the national set-up. After all, what is the point of five-year suspensions if a return to cricket is dismissed from the outset?

The debate about life-bans for drug cheats and corrupt sportsmen remains a minefield from a legal perspective, which often prohibits bodies such as the ICC from handing out a punishment which would spell an immediate end to a cricketer’s career.

They have, however, done that before. Back in 2000, late South African batsman Hansie Cronje was banned for life from the sport for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal during a tour of India four years earlier, where he was allegedly asked to persuade his team-mates to lose wickets and to declare their innings early in order to make a game of it, among other misdemeanours, in return for cash from a host of illegal bookmakers.

Cronje, who was killed in a plane crash in South Africa in 2002, was vilified and hounded out as one of the biggest cheats in the sport’s history. It was considered the worst cricketing scandal until the Pakistani spot-fixing crisis and remains a dark memory for South African supporters.

Unfortunately for them and for the sport of cricket, another wave of corruption is bubbling under the surface, with reports emerging earlier this week that the ICC’s anti-corruption unit are closing in on a former South African international who has allegedly been the ringleader in a match-fixing scheme within the Ram Slam T20 competition, the nation’s premier domestic tournament in the shortest format of the game.

The news, when it finally broke on Thursday (January 14), was explosive.

Until that day, the name of the supposed assailant had remained untold, until it was revealed that Gulam Bodi had been charged with contriving to fix‚ or otherwise improperly influence, aspects of the 2015 Ram Slam T20 Challenge Series by Cricket South Africa. As a result, he could even face the same fate as Butt, Amir and Asif as he may be sentenced to prison time. It also remains to be seen how far the ICC choose to take the case, but it already appears bleak for the 37-year-old.

The Twenty20 format of cricket, which has enjoyed a rapid growth since it was introduced back in 2003, is often the target of fixers, manipulators and illegal bookmakers as it is usually garners the most television time, and therefore attracts the most money.

Accusations concerning Twenty20 leagues are nothing new. In fact, spot-fixing within the Indian Premier League (IPL), the highest-grossing major domestic competition which features top cricketing stars from all over the world, was one of the main reasons behind a Lodha Committee probe into the Board of Control of Cricket in India.

The report they produced was commissioned after IPLC chief operating officer Sundar Raman was implicated in a spot-fixing and betting scandal in 2013, where inside information was allegedly given to bookies in order to fix matches.

The furore within the IPL was met with fury among the Indian public, many of whom are some of the most ardent and die-hard followers of cricket on the planet. It is fair to say they are still recovering now, but the Lodha Committee’s recommendations surely represent a step in the right direction.

Raman was cleared by the Committee - who also recommended legalising betting on cricket in India as part of a series of sweeping reforms - but suspicion surrounding the competition remains.

Although the development of Twenty20 has been heralded and revelled in by the ICC, the feeling of concern must exist within its members that the format is providing fixers with too many opportunities for them to manipulate the sport for profit.

It is important to remember the ICC also seem to be leaning towards Twenty20 as their preferred format for Olympic inclusion, with calls for the sport to be a part of the Games as vociferous as they ever have been in recent months.

Before they consider an attempt at gaining a place on the hallowed Olympic programme, however, ensuring Twenty20 isn’t the subject of continued manipulation from illegal bookmakers must be priority number one.

If not, the worrying prospect of spot-fixing on the grandest stage of them all could become a reality - with an Olympic medal at stake, who knows the lengths the fixers might go to.