Botham calls for Pakistan to be banned from world cricket after their chief accuses England of match-fixing

 

 

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:55 PM on 20th September 2010

 

• Ijaz Butt claims England players accepted huge payouts
  
• Pakistan chief claims HIS players are being smeared
  
• Sir Ian Botham demands ICC 'wake up' and take action
  
• Andrew Strauss: 'We refute allegations completely'
  
  
• England's final two matches against Pakistan still on
  

Sir Ian Botham today demanded Pakistan be banned from world cricket until allegations about match-fixing have been fully investigated.

The former England captain was furious at new claims by the chairman of the Pakistan cricket board, who alleged England players had thrown a game.

Ijaz Butt yesterday claimed they had accepted 'enormous amounts of money' to lose Friday's one-day international at The Oval - which the tourists won by 23 runs.

The allegations were rejected by England captain Andrew Strauss, who spoke of his 'dismay and outrage' today at how his players were being smeared.

 

 

 

New row: Pakistan cricket board chairman Ijaz Butt (left) has sparked fury by attacking England players. Sir Ian Botham says the team should be banned

 

Sir Ian told Sky Sports News: 'I would like to know how Ijaz Butt knows what the bookmakers are doing. Maybe he should tell us something.

'It's appalling, it's farcical and it's gone on for too long now. It needs to be stamped out. If you have a cancerous problem you get to the root of it.

'If it means giving guys amnesty, saying "come clean, guys, tell us what happened, then we'll move on", whether they have to serve a ban - that's for the ICC.

'The ICC need to wake up, they need to get off their backsides. From what I can see they haven't done very much at all.'

Asked directly whether Pakistan should be banned, Botham said: 'In my opinion, yes. We keep sweeping things under the carpet - enough is enough.

'The public pay the money to come and watch the game, what do they do if a catch goes down or someone bowls a no-ball, what are they thinking? Enough is enough.'

The England Cricket Board were locked in talks all morning to decide whether the final two one-day matches should go ahead but eventually decided they must.

Pakistan and England are facing each other at Lord's this afternoon and again at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, before the much-tainted tour finally comes to an end.

 

'Dismay': Andrew Strauss tossing the coin watched by Shahid Afridi of Pakistan at the start of the fourth one-day international today

 

 

Mr Butt claimed to a Pakistani TV station yesterday: 'There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the match. No wonder there was such a collapse.'

Asked if he had any proof, he responded: 'Did you ask the other people who made allegations against our players whether they had any proof? What did they say?

'We have thought about this properly and we have positive proofs here before us just like they say they have also.'

The intervention caused uproar in the England camp hours before the start of the fourth one-day international at Lord's later today.

 

Swinging time: Umar Akmal of Pakistan (right) steers the ball past England's Steve Davies during the fourth One Day International cricket match between England and Pakistan at Lord's today

 

 

Game on: England's Paul Collingwood (right) tries to stump Pakistan's Shahid Afridi

 

England chiefs spent hours in talks about whether to cancel the two matches and bring the tour to a premature end but decided this would be unfair to fans.

Shortly before the match was due to start at 1pm, the England and Wales Cricket Board released a very strongly worded statement from Strauss.

He said: 'We would like to express our surprise, dismay and outrage at the comments made by Mr Butt yesterday. We are deeply concerned and disappointed that our integrity as cricketers has been brought into question.

'We refute these allegations completely and will be working closely with the ECB to explore all legal options open to us.'

Strauss made clear his team had had mixed feelings over the past few hours over whether to take the field today - but decided they have a responsibility to do so.

'Under the circumstances, we have strong misgivings about continuing to play the last two games of the current series and urge the Pakistani team and management to distance themselves from Mr Butt's allegations,' he said.

'We do, however, recognise our responsibilities to the game of cricket - and in particular to the cricket-loving public in this country - and will therefore endeavour to fulfil these fixtures to the best of our ability.'

Tense: The Pakistan team on the pitch at Lord's this afternoon before the start of the match

 

Speaking later on the pitch, he added: 'It's been a difficult 24 hours for us, there's no doubt about that.

'We had to dig pretty deep and have some uncomfortable conversations but we believe it's the best of the options available to us to come out and play and put on a good show for the public who have turned up.'

Asked if it had soured relations between the teams, he added: 'I don't know about that. It's one of those situations where everything is a bit raw and emotional and there is a responsibility on all 22 players that it's the cricket that does the talking.'

 

Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson and Professional Cricketers' Association chairman Angus Porter have also issued personal statements following Butt's remarks yesterday.

Mr Butt's comments came after fresh allegations of match-fixing involving the Pakistan team.

The International Cricket Council is investigating a 'certain scoring pattern' during Pakistan's win over England at The Oval on Friday.

Pakistan have already lost three of their players following a newspaper expose which claimed they were involved in a plot to bowl no-balls to order in the Lord's Test.

Captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif were all charged and suspended by the ICC and have since returned home.

 

Result: England celebrate after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Fawad Alam during today's match

 

Mr Butt, speaking to the BBC this morning, tried to row back - insisting he had only been relaying information he had heard from bookmakers and had no proof.

'I have never said this. If you listen to the full tape of the NDTV interview, the bookies are saying this. I am not saying this,' he told Five Live.

He claimed the three suspended Pakistani players have been mistreated.

'This is not a conspiracy to defraud the bookies, our boys were suspended by the ICC and they had no business to suspend them without any proof,' he said.

'We feel that this a conspiracy to defraud and defame Pakistan cricket. Currently there is a lot of talk in bookie circles that some of the England players were involved in losing the match to Pakistan.'

 

The three players are still under investigation by the Metropolitan Police over the Lord's matter but it is thought unlikely they will face criminal charges.

Instead they will face heavy punishment from the game's governing body if they are found guilty by an independent panel.

The three players' agent, Mazhar Majeed, who was named as 'the fixer' in the News of the World expose, is on police bail.

 

The final game in the one-day international series will be at The Rose Bowl in Hampshire on Wednesday.

Captain Andrew Strauss has already admitted all the players will relieved when it is over.

He said: 'All the players will be quite relieved when this series is over and done with - there's no doubt about that.

'It's been a very tough tour for the Pakistanis and a tough series for us to play in, given what has gone on off the pitch.

'But that shouldn't distract us from what we need to do - which is to win two more games of cricket.

'Our goal at the beginning of each summer is to win every series we play in. We're one game away from doing that.'

An ECB statement is expected later this morning.

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313582/England-cricket-match-fixing-claims-Pakistan-chief-says-theres-conspiracy.html#ixzz1062mTKzi

Even the Pakistan cricket hierarchy is based upon lies upon lies upon lies.

Even the Pakistan cricket hierarchy is based upon lies upon lies upon lies.

 

They reckon that guy is probably just a "puppet" anyway.;)

Wonder who's pulling his strings.............................. :rolleyes:

cricket is in big trouble. the entire integrity of the game is hanging in the balance and drastic changes arent made very very soon, the game will go down the drain just as it was making a revival with the popularity of T20.

cricket is in big trouble. the entire integrity of the game is hanging in the balance and drastic changes arent made very very soon, the game will go down the drain just as it was making a revival with the popularity of T20.

 

Nah, it'll be fine. Nothing like a good scandal. Draws more attention to it.

Cricketers brawl as fixing row boils over and Botham calls for Pakistan to be banned from world cricket

 

 

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 10:50 AM on 21st September 2010

 

• Comments (13)
  
• Add to My Stories
  

• Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz clash in the nets
  
• Pair had to be separated by England coach
  
• England team consider legal action
  
  
• Botham calls for Pakistan to be banned
  
  
• Nasser Hussain agrees ICC must act decisively
  
• High Commissioner: Our relations with UK are 'solid'
  
  

An England cricketer allegedly grabbed an opposing Pakistani player by the throat in a scuffle at Lord's yesterday, as tensions over the match fixing scandal exploded into violence.

 

In extraordinary scenes, Jonathan Trott and Wahab Riaz had to be forcibly separated after a furious confrontation in the practice nets before the start of the latest one-day game which Pakistan won by 38 runs.

 

Batsman Trott apparently asked the passing Pakistan fast bowler, who has been questioned by detectives probing the ill-fated series: 'How much are you going to make from the bookies on this game?'

 

 

 

 

Scuffle: Pakistan bowler Wahab Riaz (left) and batsman Jonathan Trott (right) had to be forcibly separated after a furious confrontation

 

The two men traded insults, then threw cricket pads at one another, before the clash turned physical. Former England star Graham Gooch, now the team's batting coach, had to step in and separate the two players.

 

Both were hauled before the match referee Jeff Crowe, given a ticking-off and warned about their future conduct.

 

The unsavoury flare-up at the home of cricket briefly threatened to delay the start of yesterday's game, already in peril after Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt's incendiary comments that England players took bribes to throw a match last week.

 

His claim that he was aware of bookmaker information that England's cricketers had 'taken enormous amounts of money' to fix last Friday's one-day international at The Oval incensed the team.

And it led to former captain Sir Ian Botham declaring Pakistan should be banned from world cricket until allegations about their match-fixing are fully investigated.

He said: 'We keep sweeping things under the carpet - enough is enough. The public pay the money to come and watch the game, what do they do if a catch goes down or someone bowls a no-ball, what are they thinking? Enough is enough.'

However, there are fears that if Pakistan are banned, the country will be further isolated from the international community which could play into the hands of extremists.

 

Tensions: Jonathan Trott grimaces after he is dismissed by Pakistan

 

 

Furious England stars deliberated into the small hours yesterday before finally agreeing to play but captain Andrew Strauss threatened to sue over claims that his team threw the match.

 

He admitted the England team had strong 'misgivings' about whether to play but decided to take the field for 'the cricket-loving public'.

 

He said players will 'explore all legal options' before expressing his team's 'surprise, anger and outrage' at Mr Butt's comments.

The confrontation between Trott and Riaz came three weeks after the cricket scandal surrounding the Pakistan side exploded when their Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were alleged to have taken part in a plot to defraud illegal bookmakers by bowling no-balls to order.

 

They were interviewed by Scotland Yard and charged and suspended under the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption code. Last week Wahab Riaz became the fourth Pakistan player to be questioned.

 

Ijaz Butt's remarks followed the ICC announcement on Saturday that it will investigate 'a certain scoring pattern' after being tipped-off that bookmakers knew details of the Pakistan innings before Friday's match at The Oval.

Butt talked of a 'conspiracy' against Pakistan and said in a TV interview: 'There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the match.'

 

He later said he was only repeating what he had heard.

 

 

 

 

New row: Pakistan cricket board chairman Ijaz Butt (left) has sparked fury by attacking England players. Sir Ian Botham says the team should be banned

 

 

The comments infuriated Botham, who told Sky Sports News: 'I would like to know how Ijaz Butt knows what the bookmakers are doing. Maybe he should tell us something.

'It's appalling, it's farcical and it's gone on for too long now. It needs to be stamped out. If you have a cancerous problem you get to the root of it.

 

'If it means giving guys amnesty, saying "come clean, guys, tell us what happened, then we'll move on", whether they have to serve a ban - that's for the ICC.

'The ICC need to wake up, they need to get off their backsides. From what I can see they haven't done very much at all.'

Fellow former captain Nasser Hussain, writing in today's Daily Mail, also said a temporary ban on Pakistan may have to be considered.

'There may come a point sometime soon when temporarily removing Pakistan from world cricket may be the only way to preserve the games' dignity...' he said.

'I've generally agreed with Imran Khan on this - You can't kick out a team just because of two or three bad apples.

'But we're seeing now what happens when accusations are bandied around with no thought for their consequences.'

'Dismay': Andrew Strauss tossing the coin watched by Shahid Afridi of Pakistan at the start of the fourth one-day international yesterday

 

Hussain says that unlike Strauss he might have said 'enough is enough' and refused to play the final two matches of the series.

'If you're accusing my team of deliberately losing a match, then you don't deserve to be on the same field,' he wrote.

He urged the ICC to be decisive to avoid the situation escalating even further.

Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Hasan today insisted relations between the two countries will not be damaged by the cricket row.

But he risked inflaming the situation further by saying Mr Butt had made a 'very innocent argument' about the England players.

 

He told the BBC: 'Mr Butt made a very innocent argument. He said that it's very strange that, when Pakistan loses a match, people describe it as a spot-fixing or fixing of the match.

 

'When Pakistan win the match, the same allegations are levelled against it. While he was in India the bookies told him the matches are fixed in England. It's the responsibility of the ICC (International Cricket Council) to investigate allegations. This was an allegation made by a member of the ICC's board.'

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But he went on: 'Will this row sour our relationship? My answer is certainly no. This is a separate matter. Our relationship with the UK was not made overnight. It has its roots in the past. It is on solid ground.'

 

Of the claims against Pakistani players, he added: 'I can tell you our boys are innocent. I still maintain (that) until proven guilty, they are innocent.'

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson told Today he could understand the England players' reaction: 'I can absolutely understand the emotion involved in all of this. They have had their integrity questioned in the most fundamental way.'

 

He declined to call for Pakistan to be thrown out of world cricket, saying: 'In terms of the wider British-Pakistan relationship, if we were seen to be playing a part in throwing them out of world cricket, that would have very serious consequences across the piece.'

'DEATH THREATS' FOR PAKISTAN STAR'S EX

 

 

 

Pakistan TV star Veena Malik and (right) with cricketer Mohammad Asif

 

 

 

The ex-girlfriend of Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Asif claims she has received death threats since speaking out about the match-fixing scandal.

 

Veena Malik, 27, was allegedly threatened in person as well as via e-mail after telling the International Cricket Council about Asif's link to an Indian bookie.

 

The reportedly message said: 'Don't talk to the media. Keep you mouth shut, b****. I'll kill you, watch what I do.'

 

The TV star told The Sun she was also approached two weeks ago by a man who said someone would come after her. 'I can't sleep at night because I fear for my life,' she told the paper.

 

Asif is one of three Pakistan players who have been suspended after allegations of 'spot-fixing' during the Fourth Test against England last month.

 

Veena claims she discovered he was throwing games after checking a number on their phone bill, believing he had been having an affair.

 

'I knew he had women all over the world. I rang this number thinking it was another one but a man answered. He claimed they were working on commercial compaigns together,' she said.

 

She claims Asif secretly went to Thailand and admitted he had struck a deal with an Indian man when he was there. His girlfriend later listened while he was on the phone.

 

She says she heard a man say: 'We spent a lot of money on you and you've made a commitment to us.'

 

'They were paying Asif £25,000 to play badly but he said he needed £128,000. It was a couple of weeks befroe Pakistan's tour of Australia,' she added.

 

'One day I told him I was praying for them to win. He replied 'Why are you wasting your time? We are not going to win anything until December 2010.'

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313582/Cricketers-brawl-fixing-row-boils-Botham-calls-Pakistan-banned.html#ixzz109y13Piv

i think British cricket board should do an investigation of their players coz its easy to point fingers at south asian teams but are the British cricketers holier then thou.

i hate the double standards ICC has for us south asia teams but have another way of dealing with teams like Australia (the most racist team in the cricketing world) and England.

isn't it funny that Pakistan win a match and they are still investigated:rolleyes:

i just want the whole ICC to wakeup to the problems and have the same penalties for every1.

Btw i hate Ian botham he always had a problem with Pakistan not just me saying it imran khan and wasim akram wrote abt it in their bvooks.

AND I WANT PAKISTAN TO STOP PLAYING INTERNATIONAL CRICKET and we should improve our grass root cricket.