The Butt and Asif conundrum: ICC has placed the ball in our court, says PCB official

No explanation given for sudden change in stance regarding the duo.

KARACHI: The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) sudden decision to allow Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif’s return to competitive cricket has prompted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to ask for a clarification from cricket’s governing body.

The ICC had been delaying the cases of Asif and Butt over the last four-and-a-half years and remained insistent that the two had not shown any remorse, projecting only Mohammad Amir as the innocent one.

The trio was involved in spot-fixing incidents in the August 2010 Test against England.

The now defunct British newspaper News of the World broke the story and the aforementioned players were later found guilty of taking bribes from a bookmaker, Mazhar Majeed, to bowl no-balls.

The ICC banned the three players for different periods; Amir for five years, Asif for seven years (later, two years were suspended on specific conditions) and Butt for 10 years (later, five years were suspended on specific conditions).

“For all these years, the ICC had been unrelenting against Asif and Butt so their sudden change of heart is a surprise,” a PCB official told The Express Tribune. “We’re unclear on why the ICC has now taken a step back and put the ball in the PCB’s court.”

The official went on to say that immediate participation of the duo in competitive cricket is not on the cards at the moment. “Asif and Butt needed to fulfil some commitments of the PCB, without which they can’t participate straightaway,” he said.

The national team is also stirred with the news of the clemency granted to the three, as their return may signal the removal of the some players from the current side.

The PCB is expected to stop both Asif and Butt from participating in upcoming domestic T20 competitions, while Amir would represent Rawalpindi Rams.

“Just because the ICC has suddenly retracted from its stance, it doesn’t mean that the PCB will follow suit,” said the official. “The two have to complete all the prerequisites before being allowed to venture even into domestic cricket.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.