FEW areas of the murky match-fixing scandal infesting Cricket are anything more than dark grey.

There are, however, a couple of black and white points emerging from the Qayyum Report.

One is that Blackburn Northern professional Ata-ur-Rehman (pictured) is either a cheat or a liar, or both.

Yet this man is amazingly allowed to continue to make a living from the game.

And that can only bring the Jennings Ribblesdale League into disrepute.

League officials have opted to wait until further directives are received from bodies such as the International Cricket Conference or the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Any ICC inquiry would rely on the appointment of an anti-corruption investigator. Apparently he will be based at Kingdom Come.

But the Qayyum conclusions were detailed, thorough and hard-hitting enough to act on immediately.

In recommending that Ata be banned for life from international cricket, Qayyum was not hedging his bets -- so to speak.

However, if cricket is to be cured of this disease, the punishments need to be immediate and far-reaching.

Why should someone who has exploited their talent to betray their country and sport continue to extract money from the cash-strapped grass roots of that same game?

I know that I would feel more than a little peeved if I, as an amateur playing for the love of the game, was being carted out of the ground by a self-confessed cheat.

For Ata started his own ball rolling when he admitted to the initial Pakistan Probe Committee receiving 100,000 Rupees from Wasim Akram to bowl badly against New Zealand in the Fifth One-day International at Christchurch in 1994. In front of the Qayyum inquiry, he denied making this claim until the statement was produced.

The following day he confirmed that he had, after all, made the allegation.

Ata's defence was that he had been threatened with "dire consequences in Manchester" unless he changed his story.

Then, under cross-examination by Wasim Akram, he again said the allegations were false.

It doesn't take the brains of a sub-continent bookmaker to realise that something doesn't add up.

If he did indeed make the initial allegation, then Ata was guilty of accepting the money.

If he didn't, he has been guilty of lying under oath to an investigation which will affect shape the course of the game's future.

And it must be remembered that the ban has been recommended for accepting money, not the perjury, for which he will face further charges in the Lahore High Court.

Either way, while the growing collection of accused and counter-accused continue to protest their innocence, Ata and his advisors prefer to hide behind bland legalise.

So, with the verdict delivered, the sentence must be imposed. Why is the cricket world turning the tables on natural justice by failing to accept Ata's guilt until his innocence can be proven?

It was to be expected that that Blackburn Northern would stand by their man.

But, by the same token, if he is called back to Pakistan to face charges, then no substitute should be allowed during his absence.

A more sensible and respectable course of action would be for the league to make a stand for the rank and file of respectability, suspend his registration and allow the club to seek a permanent -- and honourable -- replacement.