LAHORE: Former Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt has for the first time publicly admitted to and apologized for spot-fixing, two years after he was found guilty of the offense.
Butt, along with fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, was banned from the sport by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2011 after being found guilty of deliberately contriving no-balls in return for money during the Lord’s Test against England the previous year.
The trio and their agent Mazhar Majeed were also jailed by an English court in 2011. The players were released last year.
“I apologize to the nation and all the fans who have been hurt by the spot-fixing case,” Butt told a press conference in the eastern city of Lahore in his first public apology for the offense.
Butt received a 10-year ban, with five years suspended, for his role in the scam. Asif was barred for seven years, with two suspended, while Aamer got five years.
In April, Butt and Asif lost their appeals to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the ICC urged the players to accept their guilt and start rehabilitation. Aamer had not appealed after pleading guilty before the UK court in 2011.
“I admit the ICC tribunal decision and warn the future players to avoid the pitfalls of corruption because this is bad for the country and for the fans,” Butt, 28, said.
He and Aamer have agreed to undergo rehabilitation through the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Butt’s public apology is seen as a step toward shortening the remaining period of suspension.
Butt also appealed to the interim PCB chief Najam Sethi on Friday to reduce his ban and permit a return to domestic cricket, while indicating his ambition to play internationally in the future.
“I request the interim chairman to request the ICC to reduce my and Asif’s bans. I have two years ban left so if the ICC allows me to play domestic cricket then I will be ready for international matches once my ban ends.
“I have enough cricket left in me and when my ban ends I am ready to play for the country again,” said Butt.
Bopara ‘annoyed and depressed’
In london, Ravi Bopara hit back yesterday at claims of ball-tampering made against England by former captain Bob Willis during the Champions Trophy.
Willis, one of only four England bowlers to have taken 300 Test wickets, said leading umpire Aleem Dar was “on England’s case” and “that one individual is scratching the ball for England.”
Former fast bowler Willis, now a television pundit. made his comments after Dar and fellow on-field umpire Billy Bowden changed the ball during England’s group stage loss to Sri Lanka at The Oval.
England one-day coach Ashley Giles subsequently insisted the team’s conduct had been above board and the International Cricket Council said nothing in the umpires’ report warranted further investigation.
“It was annoying, sad and depressing — especially in the middle of a global competition,” Bopara told Friday’s London Evening Standard.
“We were doing well in that tournament, and I felt it was unacceptable to make that sort of noise,” the Essex all-rounder added after a tournament where England lost in the final to India.
“When England are doing well, why does something negative have to come from it? Why not just get on the wave with England and enjoy it?“
Medium-pacer Bopara, often given the job of looking after the ball for both county and his country, said: “We’ve learnt over the last 12-18 months that we need to look after the white ball as well as we do the red ball.
“We discussed as a team how we were going to shine it.
“You have to look after them to make them ‘talk’.
“You want that seam to be standing up as long as possible; you want one side to be very smooth, which helps with lateral movement.
“If you can make the red ball swing, you should be able to do the same with the white one.”
