Sports

Butt, Asif, Aamir dropped from squad

Three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of a betting scandal have been released from the squad.

Afp September 02, 2010

TAUNTON: Three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of a betting scandal have been released from the squad for the remainder of the tour of England, team manager Yawar Saeed said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters ahead of Pakistan's one-day game against Somerset, Saeed said Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamir and Mohammad Asif had been dropped from the two upcoming Twenty-Twenty games.

Pakistan would also seek replacements for the five one-day limited overs games against England, Saeed added, denying the trio had been suspended.

"The T20 squad will remain what it is here this morning, that is 13 people," Saeed said. "When we play the one-day internationals we will be asking for replacements to make the squad up to 16. "

"The (three) players have not been suspended."

Butt, Aamir and Asif were named in a report by Britain's News of the World tabloid, which alleged the players conspired to arrange for deliberate no-balls to be bowled at precise points in last week's Test match against England.

COMMENTS (4)

Dr Qaisar Rashid | 14 years ago | Reply The tabloid played a cheap shot. Name any street or citycentre in the UK which is free of betting and gambling dens. Betting and gambling are legal. How can you keep any sports stadium out of influence of betting/gambling which is legal in a country like the UK? Our players were unnecessarily maligned. Shame on the British media. Produce talent to match Aamir instead of playing dirty to him. I hope all the three players are back to the team soon.

Majid | 14 years ago | Reply I do not know if the players are innocent or not - neither do any of us, so we should not judge them yet. But The Guardian Newspaper in the UK has just ran a story Thursday 2 September 2010 17.28 BST - written by James Robinson - http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/02/mp-news-of-the-world-inquiry - It details that The News of The World paper which made the video of the betting scam uses illegal phone tappings of many public figures in the UK. Keyword here is 'ILLEGAL', this is a news paper which belongs to Rupert Murdochs News Corp. Group, and I want you to all to take a look at the where the allegations against the players have stemmed from. How can you trust a News paper which uses illegal methods to make headlines and sell papers. Before I read this story I thought wrongly of Pakistan's cricketers too, but having read this story in The Guardian newspaper about the Illegal activities of the News of the World Paper, I am now not going to jump on the bandwagon against the players, and I think they have been setup, just like Wajid Hassan says. Please take a look at the story in The Guardian newspaper's website, and The New York Times has also reported on the illegal activities of Rupert Murdochs newspaper.

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MAITRE | 14 years ago | Reply PCB should resign now and Mr. Ijaz BUTT should be sent packing. The trio should be replaced with Muhammad Irfan; the young upcoming fast bowler who has been offered contract by IPL and other consistent performers. It is high time for Pakistan cricket Team to get a better replacemnent for furure series.

Khalid | 14 years ago | Reply To hell with Yawar saeed and English media

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