Salman appeals against suspension

Suspended Pakistan opener Salman Butt has filed an appeal against the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to provisionally suspend the cricketer following the spot-fixing allegations.

Salman became the first Pakistani out of the three to appeal against the ICC’s decision following weeks of discussions with the Pakistan Cricket Board and its legal advisers.

“The ICC has only received an appeal from Salman against his provisional suspension,” said an ICC spokesman. “No date for the hearing has been set but Michael Beloff QC [the Chairman of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission] will hear the matter of whether the provisional suspension should be lifted.”

The spokesman added that Salman had earlier submitted a plea through his counsel but now his personal appeal has reached the sport’s governing body and also confirmed that no appeal from Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir has been received.

We’re making progress - Lorgat

According to the ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, the trio had the right to appeal and Salman’s decision will now be subject to a new hearing.


“We are making good progress,” said Lorgat, who defended the ICC in a teleconference from London against claims it had been slow to act when confronted with ‘fixing’ claims. “If you think about the incidences that have transpired, we promised action.

“It’s a legal process we must follow and we will do our level best to eradicate corruption in the sport. We’ve also got a very strong education programme in place. Many players follow the ICC’s code of conduct and keep the sport free of corruption. The one or two cases we do uncover, we must deal severely with.”

Lorgat rebukes Ijaz Butt over England claims

The ICC chief executive also rebuked the PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt for going public with allegations that England had ‘thrown’ a recent One-Day International. Lorgat said he wished Ijaz had approached the global governing body before going public with claims that strained cricket relations between England and Pakistan to breaking point.

“I would have been much more satisfied with an approach to the ICC or ACSU,” he said before adding that the “game is bigger than any one of us” and rejected calls led by Ian Botham for Pakistan to be suspended from international cricket as a result of the spot-fixing allegations engulfing the team.

“I don’t subscribe to the view that if, charges against a few individuals are proven, a country should be banned. There are provisions [for the ICC to suspend a country] but we are not contemplating anything like that right now.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2010.