Pakistan Cricket News: PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt Arrives in
England; Hopes to Save His Blushes
The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128, and the legal advisor of the organisation, Taffazul Rizvi, have arrived in England in what is being seen as a last ditch effort to salvage the pride of an under fire
administration.
Butt, who is a former test cricketer, has remained an unpopular choice at the post of Director International Cricket Council and his ongoing skirmishes with the leading cricketing Boards and the governing body of the game
have harmed the game to no end.
Many believe that his approach is set to bring doom and gloom to Pakistani cricket and will make things extremely difficult for the Board as they struggle to reconcile with cricketing administrators around the world.
Butt shocked the cricketing world when he claimed that he had information from certain bookies that English players threw away the third ODI against
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at the Oval in return for an enormous amount of money.
Subsequently the English Cricket Board and players were outraged and asked Butt to provide evidence or to get ready to face legal proceedings.
But the stubborn administrator refused to give in to the demands of the ECB and reiterated that he stands by the allegations he had levelled against them.
Expectedly, his attitude irked the ICC and ECB further amid calls for his suspension and eventual removal from the ICC office; reports which were confirmed by a source inside the cricketing operatives.
"Those [thoughts of suspending an ICC director] are things that are exercising ICC minds," an insider from the governing body of the game disclosed.
He added, "They'd rather wait to see what transpires between ECB and PCB. The ECB have made it clear they want to take some action so there is no point the ICC getting involved in what could be a legal case”.
The source also revealed that the ICC was mulling over their decision of withdrawing Butt from the post of ICC Director yet were not clear as to how to implement their decision.
The source went on to say, “The ICC does have a code of ethics and it has crossed their minds but there might be no need to take this action if there is a legal action against Butt. If he does apologise, the ICC have to see
what to do because if he has apologized then what can you do? Nobody has come forward and made any noises about suspension yet, but that doesn't mean nobody will do that. Someone might have something to say at the next board meeting.”
Considering the approach of the ICC and the ECB, Butt and Taffazul Rizvi’s visit is extremely significant and critics of the game claim that this might be the last throw of the dice for the PCB and its beleaguered administration.
Another factor that is weighing against Butt is the call for his removal from the helm of the PCB.
The Patron-in-Chief of PCB is the president of the country Asif Ali Zardari and he is under immense pressure from various quarters to remove Ijaz Butt and save Pakistani cricket from complete disaster.
The chairman’s visit of England is set to last a week and includes meetings with Pakistani and British lawyers who are pursuing the case of the three cricketers who are involved in the spot fixing
scandal that came to the fore during the last test match between Pakistan and
England at Lords.
The match was won by England by a record margin after the tourists caved in dramatically from a commanding position on the second day of the match.
Ironically, one of the accused Mohammad Amir bowled the best spell of his test career during the test match in which spot-fixing was alleged to have occurred – the third test match - claiming a six wicket haul.
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