Didn''t make match-fixing allegations against Eng players: Butt

Thu, Oct 07 10 11:16 AM

Karachi, Oct 7 (PTI) After apologising to the England Cricket Board, PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt now says he never made any allegations of match-fixing against English players and was only trying to make the point that the sport is "reeling from a storm of allegations and rumors". Butt, who returned from London last night, said his comments that there are strong rumours about English players taking money to lose matches were only meant to highlight the fluid state of affairs in international cricket. "I am happy to correct the misunderstanding that I, or anyone at the PCB had made any allegations about members of the England cricket team. The point which I have sought to make from the beginning was that the world of cricket is reeling from a storm of allegations and rumors, and these must be addressed," Butt said in a statement. "Many of these recent allegations have concerned the Pakistan cricket team, and these must and will be properly investigated. But, and this was my point, the problem, and the rumors, are not confined to any single country," he added. Butt said the PCB was fully cooperating with the ongoing spot-fixing investigations against three suspended Pakistani players -- Test skipper Salman Butt and pacer Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir. "Those of us who care about the state of cricket in the world today will not flinch from a thorough, uncompromising investigation of any such allegations and rumors, whether they concern Pakistan or any other cricketing nation, and we at the PCB will give any such investigation our fullest cooperation and support," Butt said. Butt also made it clear that he or anyone at the PCB have no specific evidence of any wrongdoing by cricketers from England. "Our priority and our responsibility must be the actions of the Pakistan Team. These are quite properly subject now to an investigation by both Scotland Yard and the ICC. I am very glad that we have been able to resolve this misunderstanding with our friends in English cricket. .

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