Salman Butt is currently being left hung to dry in the spot fixing trial. However, in the midst of serious allegations, Butt has found in the former Pakistan coach a character witness who attests to Butt's commitment to Pakistan cricket.
Salman Butt
The former Pakistan captain is facing trial at the Southwark Crown Court over charges of cheating and corruption. However, he is not the only Pakistan cricketer on trial. Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer are also on trial and although only the former is in court, each is fighting individually to get the charges off their back. The trio have already been deemed guilty by the ICC over another variant of match fixing, spot fixing during Pakistan's tour of England last year.
However, even as the prosecution and Asif's lawyer would like to pin Butt as the ring leader in keeping with the testimony of the Pakistan player agent cum bookie, Mazhar Majeed, Butt is finding support from unlikely quarters. After himself going through rigourous questions in which he was grilled over whether he had pressurized the two fast bowlers into bowling no balls and of his connections with Mazhar Majeed, Butt would have found relief in that the former Australian fast bowler, Geoff Lawson, who also served Pakistan cricket as a coach in 2007, was forthcoming as a character witness for Butt.
In his testimony, Lawson is said to have held Butt in high esteem, calling him his friend and attesting to Butt as someone who was dedicated to playing for Pakistan. Lawson is reported to have not only described Butt as intelligent but honest and trustworthy, the two qualities that have been brought into question as a result of the sordid affair that went down at Lord's with the player agent even suggesting that more fixing would have been on the cards had the News of the World tabloid sting operation not put an end to it.
It will be most interesting how much weightage will be given to the character witness and if indeed the jury may not be convinced enough by all the evidence they see in front of them as Asif is expected to go through a similar ordeal in the witness box.
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