Salman Butt has been withdrawn a day after his much-criticised appointment as choice guide for the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Cricket authorities in Pakistan have withdrawn spot-fixing convicted former captain Salman Butt from a consultancy position a day after his appointment was introduced, following criticism from the media, followers and cricket specialists.
Butt, together with former gamers Kamran Akmal and Rao Iftikhar Anjum, was appointed as a guide for the boys’s nationwide group, in accordance with a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) assertion on Friday. Nevertheless, Butt was withdrawn from the place a day later in a hastily-called press convention by chief selector Wahab Riaz.
“I am reverting the decision to hire Salman as we are friends and I have been accused of nepotism in appointing him,” Riaz advised reporters at PCB’s headquarters in Lahore on Saturday night.
“As chief selector, it is up to me whom I want to hire to help me so I hired him [Butt] as he has knowledge of domestic cricket and possesses a good cricketing mind, but there has been a great deal of debate since the decision was announced,” Riaz mentioned.
“I have told Salman he can’t be a part of my team,” he added.
The PCB turned down Al Jazeera’s request for a touch upon Butt’s appointment after his position within the sport’s arguably greatest corruption scandal.
Butt was the central character in a spot-fixing scandal that despatched shock waves by way of the cricket world in September 2010 when a British tabloid’s undercover recording unveiled sports activities agent Mazhar Majeed boasting of how he might prepare for gamers to rig video games for cash.
Then Pakistan captain Butt and his then teammates Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir had been discovered responsible of corruption as Pakistan bowled deliberate no-balls throughout a Take a look at match towards England at Lord’s in 2010.
Butt spent seven months of a two-and-a-half-year time period at Canterbury jail in southeast England, whereas Asif and Amir served half of their one-year and six-month phrases, respectively.
The opening batter, who performed 33 Checks, 78 one-day internationals and 24 Twenty20s, additionally served a five-year ban from taking part in the sport.
After finishing the ban, he returned to play home and franchise cricket in Pakistan. The 39-year-old additionally makes common stints as a cricket commentator and pundit.
‘Absolutely diabolical’
The transfer to nominate Butt led to widespread criticism amongst Pakistan cricket followers and specialists, who urged the board to take away him instantly.
Cricket author Kamran Abbasi termed the choice “absolutely diabolical” and known as for Riaz to resign from his place as chief selector in a submit on X.
Followers mentioned handing Butt a task that will instantly have an effect on the choice of the nationwide group was a “despicable decision” and “abhorrent move” that will damage the credibility of the board.
“An individual’s past involvement in corruption makes it challenging for stakeholders, players, and sponsors to trust their decisions or actions,” Pakistan fan Zainub Razvi wrote in a submit on X.
Cricket commentator Aatif Nawaz mentioned regardless of Butt’s data of the sport, he have to be refrained from the present gamers given the “crime for which he was convicted”.
Having seen a number of it, I feel Salman Butt’s evaluation and punditry is genuinely top of the range. He has a extremely good thoughts for the sport. However in my view, the crime for which he was convicted ought to imply there’s an enormous hole between him and present gamers…perpetually. https://t.co/I1ap9TaXdf
— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) December 1, 2023
Wholesale adjustments
The PCB has made a flurry of adjustments since Pakistan was knocked out of final month’s Cricket World Cup in India following a poor run of outcomes.
Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy of the group in all three codecs of the sport, and was changed by opening batter Shan Masood in Take a look at cricket and Shaheen Shah Afridi in T20s.
Head coach Grant Bradburn, group director Mickey Arthur and batting coach Andrew Puttick had been all let go, whereas bowling coach Morne Morkel stepped down from his position as effectively.
Former captain and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez took over the position of group director, and former Pakistan bowlers Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal are additionally a part of the new-look help employees as bowling coaches.
The board’s prime administration has additionally modified palms often over the previous few years. Present PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf returned to the helm after a spot of 10 years, changing former chief Najam Sethi, who held the place for six months.
Pakistan’s males’s group returns to motion with a three-match Take a look at sequence in Australia, beginning December 14.
