The day began with a report in the News, a Pakistan daily, that a player from the current squad was being investigated by a six-man inquiry committee over allegations of match-fixing on Pakistan’s recent tour to Australia. Ijaz Butt, the board chairman, was asked about the story at a press conference in Lahore later in the afternoon. Butt said that he would only comment once the inquiry committee had completed its report and presented its findings.
Having sensed something, journalists began to throw match-fixing questions at Butt. To one query, asking whether he believed match-fixing was now eradicated, he said, “I don’t say match-fixing is over or is not happening. I just said that it is very difficult to prove.” Butt then talked about two players against whom the ICC had provided the PCB with definitive proof that they had been involved in match-fixing, without specifying whether they were from the current squad or not. Despite persistent queries he refused to provide further details.
One of the journalists, thinking the players were active ones, asked whether the board would take action against them. “You think we haven’t taken action against them?” Butt responded, the implication that the players were current ones, seemingly lost on him.
