It's still hard to believe that the man who captained Pakistan in a Test match at Lord's just last August is now languishing in Wandsworth Prison. Or that the brilliant young left arm seamer, who lit up that game by accounting for the heart of England's top order, will spend at least the next three months in a young offenders institute.
Such is the dramatic fall from grace of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and the third teammate Mohammad Asif (the world's second-ranked bowler last July), whose aspirations at the start of their careers could never have included ignominious appearances in Southwark Crown Court.
The trio, found guilty for their part in the spot fixing of that Lord's match, began their various jail terms last week. Why did they risk lucrative and fulfilling careers, reputations and now freedom? How could they go from being venerated to reviled so quickly? Although we could speculate on mixture of greed, apparent low risk and peer pressure, we'll probably never know the full reasons behind the motivation to exercise such poor judgements.
Despite the deceit and damage to the game, it's also undeniable that personal tragedy exists for everyone involved. Their lives, and that of their families, will never be the same. Amir's mother is so beset with worry and illness she doesn't believe she'll survive until his release. But just 18 at the time, his youth may work in his favour and permit a return to the playing field, which would be welcomed by many. That one of his deliberate no balls came in that aforementioned devastating spell shows the tightrope he tread between triumph and fall.
Not all would be happy, of course, that someone who showed such scant regard for cricket's laws and spirit, pressured or not, could make a return to it. But he is an exceptional talent and there were mitigating circumstances. Nearly 60% of respondents to a poll on the Express Tribune in Pakistan said he should be allowed to represent the country following the completion of his five year ban. Former England captain Michael Atherton believes so too. There is some support.
There will be no such opportunity for Butt, Amir's urbane captain whose wife gave birth to their second child in the minutes before the guilty verdicts.
Banned by the governing bodies for 10 years, his involvement was all the more treacherous given the very intelligence he was otherwise showing while wearing the skipper's armband. Speaking of how cricket could bring hope to nation beset by floods, at last, said the commentators, here was someone in tune with the demands of the role. "Salman Butt has shown an impressive maturity," wrote Nagraj Gollapudi on Cricinfo, just before the scandal broke.
Given what was going on behind the scenes, it was an illusion, and he is now paying the price. "He has gone from a national hero to a figure of contempt and his ignominy is complete," his lawyer Ali Bajwa QC told the court in a futile attempt to avert a custodial sentence.
But even for Butt, whose reputation cannot sink any lower, there has to be the possibility of redemption. It's hard to see how it will come if he continues to show no contrition, given his guilt in both a criminal court and the International Cricket Council's special tribunal in Doha.
However, there is a general consensus that the practices revealed in the News of the World sting is the tip of the iceberg. Could he play an active, crusading role in restoring the reputation of the very sport he tarnished? Could his insider knowledge bring more incidents to light? Help to educate the next generation of Pakistan cricketers, and create a system that better protects players from the kind of unsavoury outside influences that turned his own head? If a genuinely remorseful turnaround takes place, he would surely be a compelling witness.
History tells us the idea is not as far-fetched as it appears: billions of Christians continue to take instruction from the writings of St Paul, a man who once 'ravaged' the church and approved of the first execution of one its members.
Salman Butt will not be 30 when he leaves prison. Cricket has a reputation to recover. Far from preparing appeals, I hope that a Damascene, anti-corruption conversion is taking place in those Wandsworth cells.