Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt said his country had been unfairly targeted and that he will name the people behind spot-fixing allegations against players.
“We will shortly reveal the people, bodies and parties involved in this sinister conspiracy,” said Butt. “We reserve the right to sue them for the damage.” “This is not a conspiracy to defraud bookies but a conspiracy to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket,” said Butt.
Pakistan won the third one-day international against England at The Oval by 23 runs before another spot-fixing controversy overshadowed its win.
The ICC launched an investigation into tabloid allegations of spot-fixing for the match at The Oval, after a tabloid newspaper suggested the scoring pattern in Pakistan’s innings was prearranged. The PCB said it only knew the ICC was conducting an investigation into the third ODI through media reports.
An ICC spokesman said that the game's governing body had tried to contact Butt on Friday. Butt arrived in Dubai on Saturday and met with ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat.
“As soon as we came to know that he (Butt) is in Dubai our chief executive met him Saturday evening and discussed matters of mutual interests,” the ICC spokesman said.
Butt also claimed that the media in “certain countries are biased and not fair.” Even former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has blamed the ICC for not sharing information on spot fixing with the country’s cricket board. Meanwhile, the British government is planning to institute a new intelligence unit to capture international gangsters and corrupt sportspersons in the wake of the match-fixing scandal.
{{/usCountry}}Butt also claimed that the media in “certain countries are biased and not fair.” Even former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has blamed the ICC for not sharing information on spot fixing with the country’s cricket board. Meanwhile, the British government is planning to institute a new intelligence unit to capture international gangsters and corrupt sportspersons in the wake of the match-fixing scandal.
{{/usCountry}}‘ICC needs to act quickly on fixing’
Sydney: Australian captain Ricky Ponting said that the ICC should act fast and clean up the game. “The ICC need to be doing whatever they can to get on top of these things as quickly as possible and deal with them as quickly as possible,” said Ponting.