Cricket is Life: ICC told about long no-ball odds after Butt’s grilling

Cricket bosses have told the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal into alleged spot-fixing by Pakistan’s Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir taking place at the Qater Financial tower here on Sunday that the odds of guessing three separate no-balls in a specified period would be 1.5 million to one.

The Pakistan trio facing the hearing are alleged to have conspired to bowl deliberate no-balls on the orders of alleged fixer Mazhar Majeed — the agent of Butt. The alleged offences took place during the fourth Test against England at Lord’s last August. The ICC has described the allegations as the sport’s biggest fixing scandal in decades.

The 1.5 million to one figure was presented to the hearing by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after being worked out by a statistician they have employed. Earlier on Saturday, Butt spent the entire third day of the spot-fixing hearings being examined first by his own lawyer before facing what has been described as “a tough” cross-examination by the ICC’s legal team.

As the tribunal continued into a fourth day, and with Asif and Amir still to present their defence and be cross-examined, of the hearing may last its full scheduled duration till January 11 after reports earlier claimed that a verdict would come out sooner.

Butt was Test captain at the time and he has since maintained his innocence publicly and more aggressively than the other two players and interestingly has sat to the left of the courtroom away from his co-accused Asif and Amir, who are side-by-side at the back.

In several interviews on TV and elsewhere, he has explained the presence of the money found in his hotel room after the scandal broke in the News of the World, as well as his relationship with Mazhar Majeed, the player-agent caught on camera claiming he could orchestrate spot-fixing within the side.

The fact that he spent the whole day being examined indicates the significance of his role in the proceedings and the part it may play in the final outcome.

One observer said the cross-questioning “had been a tough one, though that is something they would have expected.”Friday’s statement by Khawaja Najam, who was the team’s security manager during the World Twenty20 and the England tour, but has since stepped down from the post, might be crucial in the decision.

According to reports, beyond the prosecution team to the right of the court is a glass box containing specialist UN translators, who have been key during Butt’s evidence. But the language barrier appears to be responsible for slowing the pace of the hearing.