Butt experiences tough day in court 2011 newz

Spot-fixing controversy Must watch

"Salman Butt" The difficult day of the alleged spot-fixing trial yet on Tuesday, was accused by the prosecution of lying to the jury after being forced to answer several awkward and uncomfortable questions. 

 

Butt was in the witness box for over five hours and will have to take the stand again on Wednesday as Aftab Jafferjee QC for the prosecution has not yet even reached the three no-balls in question on which alone the jury have been ordered to base their verdict.  

Butt was asked about his little blue book, which was found in the suitcase that police discovered in his hotel room on the night of the raids on the third evening of the Lord's Test. It contained all his scribblings about income, expenditure and money "still to be received" and Jafferjee used the contents of that pocket-sized notepad to grill Butt. 

He was asked why it did not mention the £30,000 that Butt was due from an apparent bat sticker deal with Majeed's company Capital Cricket. "It's up to me about what to write and what not to write. It's my diary," Butt replied, becoming agitated many times by Jafferjee's probing. Often he turned to the female interpreter to convey his thoughts when things became very tense.  

Jafferjee questioned Butt on whether he thought it strange that a global sportswear brand like Adidas would pay him just £800 per appearance yet Majeed was willing to pay him £30,000 for a bat sticker to advertise his company Capital Cricket in 2010, and also £5,000 "to cut a ribbon" - as Jafferjee phrased it - at an ice cream parlour.  

The former Pakistan captain and opening batsman Butt and his former team-mate Mohammad Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following that Lord's Test last year when they allegedly conspired with agent Mazhar Majeed, teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.