The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Butt criticised for comments

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Thursday, Oct 18, 2007
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Butt criticised for comments

Lahore: Pakistan vice-captain Salman Butt got a dressing down from the team management for criticising the bowlers at a press conference during the second cricket Test against South Africa here last week.

Sources in the team told PTI that Butt was forced to apologise to the bowlers and other team-mates who rounded on him for his critical comments.

“Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria as well as the pacers were not happy when they read Butt’s comments and confronted him,” sources said.

“One bowler told Butt on his face that being the vice-captain did not give him a license to blame the bowlers publicly and if the team did not do well it was everyone’s responsibility,” he said.

“He also told Butt that by making such statements he should not spoil the spirit in the dressing room.”

Playing down the issue

Butt had tried to play down the issue by blaming the media for blowing up his comments and claiming that he had been misquoted.

“But when the team management also pulled him up and warned him to be careful with his choice of words, Butt apologised to other players,” he said.

“The team manager and captain advised him that he would only create problems in the side if he was not careful with his words and attitude,” the source said. The left-hander was also fined 50 per cent of his fees by Match Referee Alan Hurst for criticising some umpiring decisions in the Test.

Butt was a surprise choice for vice-captaincy before the ICC World Twenty20 Championship, and many felt that his appointment was because of the fact that he was one of the few players in the side who was well versed in English.

Butt did not click in the ICC World Twenty20 and was also castigated by the team management during the tournament when he gave a statement on the Shoaib Akhtar-Mohammad Asif brawl. — PTI

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