We are delighted to present an exclusive conversation with former Pakistan captain and ICC match referee, Asif Iqbal. Asif is an articulate individual blessed with great knowledge on Pakistan cricket and cricket in general. He represented Pakistan on 68 occasions and also skippered English county team Kent with great dignity and success.

Here, he speaks to PakPassion.net about recent spot/match fixing allegations which has hit Pakistan Cricket. More importantly he talks about Ijaz Butt and his reaction.

by Saj Sadiq

26 September 2010

PakPassion: We’d like to be talking about cricket right now but unfortunately the off the field issues are of more relevance at this point. What are your thoughts on the accusations made by Ijaz Butt against the England players?

Asif Iqbal: The first word that comes to mind is unfortunate. I think that was just a reaction to the allegations and accusations made against the Pakistani players. And on top of that, I think there was pressure on Ijaz Butt to do something or say something because most Pakistanis have taken this as a conspiracy against Pakistani cricketers. There are conspiracy theories not only in cricket but also in politics and other aspects of daily life in Pakistan, but we need to take more responsibility in what we say.

PakPassion: What are your thoughts on the ECB threatening to sue Ijaz Butt after he made these allegations? Were they right to take that course of action or should the ECB have sat down with the ICC and the PCB and talked this through rather than issuing legal action? 

Asif Iqbal: Well Ijaz Butt should not have gone public with his allegations to start with. He should have gone through the ICC if he had any information because the PCB is as much a member of the ICC as the ECB. But I’d like to say that the PCB should have reacted in a mature manner. The ECB gave Pakistan the opportunity to host matches against Australia and were willing to give Pakistan a chance to play their matches in England in the future because teams are unwilling to travel to Pakistan. So, I think the PCB owed something to the ECB and I don’t think Ijaz Butt should have issued such statements. There are so many more questions that have been raised following Ijaz Butt’s allegation. For example, who are the bookies he’s talking about? Why didn’t Ijaz Butt inform the ICC and give them all the information? When the videos of the sting operation were given to the ICC and the Scotland Yard as evidence of a conspiracy to defraud bookmakers, nobody complained. 

The case is till being investigated but the ICC has taken it upon itself to take action against the three accused players, purely on the basis that Ijaz Butt had already made statements about the players being not guilty and available to play in the ODIs. The first and the best thing the PCB could have done was to withdraw the players form the limited overs squad and say that the players are under investigation and will not pay until their names are cleared. The PCB should have taken this course of action instead of allowing the ICC to suspend the players. So the answer to your question is that the PCB chairman should have never given such a statement and should have gone to the ICC with whatever information he had. Secondly, there were reports that the scoring pattern in one of the ODIs had also been fixed. The ICC should not have gone public with those reports without a thorough investigation. I think the ICC was wrong when it came to that matter. Instead of going public, the ICC should have gone to the PCB with the information and investigated the reports. By going public, the ICC has somewhat damaged the reputations of the Pakistani payer who played in that particular ODI. What are they going to do if the investigation proves the claims by the newspaper as false? Then the statement by Ijaz Butt didn’t help our cause. This entire affair has been badly managed by both the PCB and the ICC.

PakPassion: The relations at the moment between the PCB, ECB and the ICC have somewhat soured. How can the PCB and the ECB sit down and resolve these differences? Or will they even be able to resolve these differences? 

Asif Iqbal: Ijaz Butt has to come up and make a statement. I think the ECB will go ahead and sue Ijaz Butt if he doesn’t apologize to the ECB and the English cricketers. There is nothing wrong in offering an apology and after all, the allegations by Ijaz Butt are very serious. At the moment the relations between the two cricket boards are at their lowest point. By making these statements the PCB chairman has laid some thorns for the PCB when it comes to relations with the ECB and ICC.

PakPassion: It seems to me that there are claims and counterclaims all coming out in public rather than bring discussed behind closed doors in a professional manner. Are you surprised by the manner in which these things are unravelling? 

Asif Iqbal: These are official statement being made by the ICC and PCB so nothing is being leaked out. I’m questioning and criticizing the statements made by the ICC following the ODI in which more questions of fixing were raised. The ICC should not have taken the route of issuing such a statement based on newspaper reports. It’s the duty of the ICC to investigate such allegations but they shouldn’t go public with the allegations before conducting an investigation. By making these public statements the ICC damaged the credibility of the remaining ODIs based on newspaper reports. These things do happen and bookies in Dubai or Delhi have a way of doing such things but honestly I consider these allegations (fixed scoring pattern) a bit farfetched. So in conclusion, I’ll just say that the ICC should have concluded their investigation before making these allegations public. 

PakPassion: Were you surprised that the series was completed after all that had happened?

Asif Iqbal: The series had to be completed but I think that’s more for financial reasons than anything else because it would have been a huge financial loss. These are things that the ICC, PCB, and ECB should have considered before going public with all these statements and allegations. It was surprising that the ICC made such statements and hurt the credibility of the series. They should have done the investigation and then made it public afterward. 


PakPassion: It seems as if the ICC’s hands are tied when it comes to the relations between the PCB and ECB. It may take a long time before these issues are resolved between the two. It seems to me that someone like yourself should act as a mediator between the two boards. Would you be willing to do that?

Asif Iqbal: I don’t think it’s my place or any former cricketers place to act as a mediator between the boards. What they need to do is to form a committee that compromises of respected people from the ICC, PCB, and ECB. Representatives from the three organizations need to sit together and come up with a sensible solution. One organization should not be made the scapegoat and there shouldn’t be any finger pointing. There is no doubt that significant damage has already been done. I think Pakistani cricket has come out very badly from this scenario. The PCB needs to decide the direction in which they are headed. They need to take the proper actions and punish any players that are guilty. It’s important that they stick by their decisions.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed above are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of PakPassion.net.

PakPassion.net is a cricket fan's forum and strives to bring to the fans the views of those involved in the game. The views of such external contributors are presented without editorialising or comment by PakPassion.net. 

PakPassion.net does not accept responsibility for any reliance being placed on any of the information contained in this external article; anyone relying on the information presented herein does so entirely at their own risk.