Ijaz Butt stands by claims against England team
Relations between the cricket authorities of Pakistan and England hit another low point when the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board accused England players of deliberately losing the third ODI at The Oval on Friday.
In an interview on Pakistan television that seems can only fan the flames of what has become an incendiary tour of England, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 made the accusation that a number of unnamed players on the England team that lost to Pakistan by 23 runs had accepted “enormous amounts of money” to lose the match.
Butt appeared on Sky Sport News, where he launched an impassioned attack on those whom he believes have acted prejudicially against Pakistan cricket, but without offering much in terms of substantive evidence beyond his original claims. However, when speaking on BBC Radio Five Live this morning, Butt said he had no proof beyond what could be described as rumour from bookmaking circles. On the subject of whether any England player was guilty of improper conduct when Butt said: “I’ve never said this. If you listen to the full tape of the NDTV interview, the bookies are saying this. I am not saying this."
In a statement the ECB said: “The ECB and the England players completely reject the remarks made by the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt yesterday about the England team's conduct in the third NatWest ODI at the Brit Insurance Oval. Mr Butt’s comments were wholly irresponsible and completely without foundation.
The ECB expresses its gratitude for the outstanding conduct of the England team this summer and will take all legal and disciplinary action which may result from Mr Butt’s comments.
The board and the team, however, are of a view that it remains in the best interests of world cricket, the players and in particular of cricket supporters that the tour should continue and it would set a dangerous precedent to call off a tour based on the misguided and inaccurate remarks made by one individual.”
During the original interview on Dunya TV Butt said: “There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the match. No wonder there was such a collapse.”
However, when Butt was asked to substantiate his claims he simply tried to parry the question with one of his own. “Did you ask the other people who made allegations against our players whether they had any proof?” he asked, adding “What did they say? We have thought about this properly and we have positive proofs here before us just like they say they have also.”
Many view these comments, from a beleaguered figurehead, to be aimed at mollifying http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 supporters both home and abroad. But it is hardly likely to help much in restoring good relations between the PCB and the England and Wales Cricket Board, which have become strained at times through various spot-fixing allegations surrounding the Pakistan team that have emerged in the past three weeks. It could also be said to have a negative side for a Pakistan side that is preparing for the fourth NatWest one-day international against England at Lord’s, with the score standing at 2-1.
This latest twist in the saga of a tour that has had many, including former England captain Michael Vaughan, calling for its immediate termination. The present incumbent, Andrew Strauss, has done well to walk a diplomatic tightrope but, speaking before Butt’s comments, and was addressing what had happened hours after the result on Friday. Then the ICC confirmed it was investigating scoring patterns during the Pakistan innings that broadly followed tips given by illegal betting syndicates before the match to The Sun newspaper.
While Strauss was not ready to invest too much weight in the latest accusations he was clear in what direction the ICC and its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACU) should be taking. “It would be wrong to vote with our feet on what could be a crank call,” Strauss said. “There is no doubt that we need to get to a situation where we are sure that every team playing international cricket is one hundred per cent clean. How we go about that is the $64million dollar question. It will be hard to root out people and it will be a long-winded and painful affair if people are going to take it seriously.
“The last thing I want is for things to be swept under the carpet so people think, ‘OK, we have got through this,’ and let the game continue. We will then have to deal with it at some stage in the future and it will be worse. Each time these things come up it chips away at the greater game of cricket. If it is not strictly dealt with now, it never will be.”
On the subject of whether the tour should go ahead Strauss relied on the forward defensive stroke.
“I do not think it is for me to comment. It is for the ICC to do their job, which is to lead the game. Never has it been more important for them to do that. They have to stand up and lead the game,” he said.
Ian Bell, who led from the front with a match-winning century for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warwickshire-c862 against Somerset in the Clydesdale Bank 40 final at Lord's, has been called-up to the England squad.
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