Pak trio deserved ICC ban, says Steve Waugh

ABU DHABI - Former Australian captain Steve Waugh insists that former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir got what they deserved after being banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over spot-fixing charges.

Waugh said that though he has some sympathy for 18-year-old Amir, he was in no doubt about how Butt had disgraced his role as the nation’s captain.

“That’s a major deterrent. To get five years, for most players, that’s your career over. And rightly so for someone like a captain of a team who is responsible for the culture and character of the team and influences younger players,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Waugh, as saying.

“The worst possible sin you can commit as a captain is to do something like that. I feel a little bit, I guess, of compassion for the young guy because he would have seen it happening with the other players.”

“Butt, I don’t have any sympathy for him and Mohammad Asif has sort of been a serial offender in a lot of areas. At some stage someone’s got to take a stand,” he added.

Butt was banned for 10 years, with five years suspended, while fast bowlers Asif and Amir were handed bans of seven years with two suspended and five years respectively.

The charges relate to alleged incidents during last year’s Lord’s Test against England, when Britain’s ‘News of the World’ tabloid claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.