Pakistan Cricket News: PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt's visit to
England - what could it possibly bring?
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 is in
England to calm the rising tensions between the
Pakistan and England boards. The International Cricket Council would be observing this tour closely as there are suggestions that ICC may be considering suspending Butt from the his role as an ICC director. These
suggestions surfaced after the outburst by Ijaz Butt in the media that a few bookies had told him that some of
England team players were involved in spot fixing in the 3rd ODI against at the Oval. However, the ICC may not take any such action if a result can be achieved between the two boards following the visit of PCB
chairman.
There is still a possibility that the issue may be raised at the next meeting of the ICC that is scheduled to take place on the 12th and 13th of October in
Dubai. It is believed that Butt is also planning to put forward his own resolution to call for the removal of ICC chief executive http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Haroon-Lorgat-c61719.
The purpose of Ijaz Butt’s trip to England is not fully known. Butt has been at crossroads with the ECB and ICC since his comments about the Oval ODI last week. The PCB chairman was not happy with
the suspension of 3 Pakistan players by the ICC. Salman Butt, Muhammad Amir and Muhammad Asif were suspended by the ICC following allegations of spot fixing by British tabloid News of the World. Butt had said that there was no need
to suspend the players and a separate police inquiry that was going on was sufficient enough to look into the matter.
The position of an ICC director is automatically given to all the board chiefs from the ICC member nations. There is a certain code that all directors have to follow which also involves keeping a global view of the game and
refraining from casting allegations against fellow cricket boards. It is also imperative to maintain the ethics of the game, and the outburst by Butt clearly went against that code.
Now, a lot is riding on Butt’s visit to
England. Following the allegations made by Ijaz Butt, the ECB had sent an official letter to Butt asking him to explain his actions, or the ECB would be forced to pursuit the matter legally.
The relations between the Pakistan and
England cricket boards have been on thin ice ever since 3
Pakistan players were alleged to be involved in spot fixing during the 4th test at Lords. A British tabloid, News of the World, had claimed that a bookie named http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mazhar-c75448 Majeed had proven to them that these 3 players
were involved in fixing. During the Lord’s test match, the tabloid released hidden camera videos that showed a man taking huge sums of cash from their reporter who was posing as a bookie. Later they showed
Pakistan bowlers Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer bowling no balls exactly when the audio recorded conversations by the bookie explained.
The Pakistan trio was questioned by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scotland-c756 Yard and released without any charges, and the players later flew back to
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. PCB had said that they would not select the player in the team for ODI series, but maintained that they were not banned or suspended. ICC however did issue a suspension and asked the players to file a reply. The 3 players
did reply to the ICC notice and are waiting for further developments.
Butt’s visit now takes centre stage in determining which way this soap opera would turn. Given the history of Mr. Butt he may end up apologising to the ECB, as he does have a record of accusing people and later denying having
said so. One prime example was when during a press conference PCB chairman said that ICC had given him evidence regarding two
Pakistan players being involved in match fixing, and the very next day back tracked from his statement. He said that he was talking in a whole different context and never said they were part of current team.
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