They turned on each other during the spot-fixing trial and now convicted Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif have been forced to share a cell at the Wandsworth prison where they are serving their term.
The two tried to lay the blame on each other during the trial, which concluded with Butt being jailed for two and a half years while Asif getting a one-year sentence.
“There is a certain gallows humour about the situation. They had no choice, it’s the prison authorities who make the call. The batsman and the bowler remain together but with no room for a run-up let alone room to overstep the mark,” a prison source was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
In the witness stand during the trial, Asif had accused Butt of abusing him before he bowled the second of the three pre-determined no balls in conspiracy with convicted bookie Mazhar Majeed, who has been sentenced to 32 months in prison.
At that time, Butt’s lawyer Ali Bajwa QC had suggested that Asif was fabricating his story to justify the no-ball. Bajwa had also accused Asif of “untruthfully downplaying” his relationship with the Majeed brothers.
Asif had also insinuated that Butt had to have been involved with an alleged fix to bowl no-balls in a Test match.
“The captain knows. What I have told you the last two days...the captain knows. He is the one who brings them (bowlers) on,” he had stated in the Southwark Crown Court during the trial.
No Eid celebration for families of Butt, Aamer
The families of Salman Butt and Mohammad Aamer, are not celebrating Eid-ul-Azha this year as an atmosphere of gloom prevails in their home. “Tell me how could we celebrate Eid at this time when our son has been sent to jail after being framed by match-fixers,” Salman’s father Zulfiqar Butt said.
The senior Butt said that there was gloom and sadness in the household. “Everyone is missing him and we are naturally worried about him. So how can we celebrate Eid when my son is in jail in another country,” he said.
Sister Khadija said everyone was missing Salman and were concerned about his welfare. “What is bothering us that since he was jailed he has not called us or spoken to us. There is no Eid for us we just pray he comes back home soon and he is safe there,” she said.
The elder brother of Aamer, Ejaz also said there would be no Eid celebrations for the family and they hope he is released soon. “How can we celebrate when day in and out we keep on seeing and hearing all sorts of things about Aamer. It is heartbreaking for the family and we just hope he is released soon because he is still so young,” he said.
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