Butt to appeal against ICC ban

Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt will appeal against a minimum five-year ban imposed on him by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for spot-fixing and has called for an open retrial by a court in his own country.

The 27-year-old returned to Pakistan from the Britain last week after serving seven months of a two-and-a-half year jail sentence for his involvement in the 'cash for no-balls' scandal that engulfed Pakistan's tour of England in 2010.

"I will be appealing in the international court of sports arbitration (CAS) in Switzerland to get the remaining years' ban removed," Butt told a news conference in his hometown of Lahore on Friday. "I don't think I got justice in the trial that sentenced me to a jail term. I want a trial in the Supreme Court of Pakistan because there was no evidence confirming I did spot fixing," Butt said.

The former Pakistan captain is banned for a minimum of five years for his involvement in spot-fixing.

Butt was found guilty of orchestrating the deliberate delivery of no-balls by Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif in the fourth Test at Lord's in return for money from their Pakistani agent, Mazhar Majeed. All three cricketers were banned by the ICC in early 2011 and late last year a crown court in London sentenced them to jail for corruption and cheating.

Majeed pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to making corrupt payments at a pre-trial hearing and is still in jail. Butt, who played 33 Tests and 78 one day internationals before the scandal, denied asking Amir and Asif to bowl no balls and said he had remained silent throughout the process for the good of Pakistan cricket.

"I didn't want to take [name] names because that is not my style. But I didn't get justice and now I want justice from our courts. The people who did spot fixing in that match should be asked about it."

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