Former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja has slammed PCB over the appointment of 'tainted' Salman Butt as a consultant member to chief selector Wahab Riaz. Ramiz was also critical of Kamran Akmal's appointment who is a part of the trio with Rao Iftikhar Anjum being the third member.
Pakistan's apex cricket governing body issued a press release on Friday, December 1 confirming the appointment of the three members and mentioning that they "have assumed their responsibilities in the selection panel with immediate effect".
"It's insane to have a selection committee consisting of a member whose decision can be termed as a display of filial affection or non-affection and another who was locked up for match-fixing," Ramiz was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
The former PCB administrator has been fairly vocal against Pakistani cricketers booked under charges of match-fixing, spot-fixing or having been found to be working in close liaison with bookies. The 61-year-old had criticised PCB's decision to give Mohammed Amir another opportunity to represent the country again after the former fast bowler had served his five-year-long ban.
Notably, Amir, Mohammad Asif and Butt were involved in a spot-fixing scandal in 2010. Butt, who was the captain of Pakistan's Test team at the time was slapped with a 10-year ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and also served a sentence in the United Kingdom (UK).
Butt played 33 Test matches, 78 ODIs and 33 T20Is for Pakistan and scored 5209 runs during his international career. He played domestic cricket after serving his ban but was never selected to play for the country again. As per reports, there is a consensus among a few factions in Pakistan cricket that he has already suffered for his wrongdoings and should be presented with more chances to redeem himself.
