'We have let our fans down' - Salman Butt

Pakistan have hit a new low after losing three Tests and four one-day internationals in Australia and Salman Butt has personally apologised to aggrieved fans. Pakistan were whitewashed by Australia for the fourth successive time in ten years during the Tests and have failed to win an ODI, and the criticism has been harsh from fans and former players.

"Pakistan is a cricket loving nation, the people eat, sleep and breathe cricket and I feel that as a team we have let our fans down during the current tour of Australia," Butt told Pakpassion.net. "I know what it is like to wake up through the night and watch your team lose again and again. I know what it feels like, because as a youngster I too was a cricket fan watching my heroes in action and its heartbreaking when your team loses."

On a personal note Butt stood out during the Test series, scoring a team-high 280 runs at 46.66, but he made no excuses for himself or his team-mates. "Australia is always a tough tour for any team and yes in the past our teams have lost here, but we can't use that as an excuse for our defeats on this tour. We have simply not performed well and have not been good enough".

After the Tests Pakistan had hoped that a few fresh faces, a change of outfit and format would lead to a change in fortune on a long tour, but it was not to be as a 4-0 scoreline clearly indicates. According to Butt, the players needed to learn from their mistakes. "We all need to learn from this experience and to look at our mistakes and to use the tour to become better players in future," he said.

"Nobody on the tour can walk away and say they can't improve aspects of their game. We all need to analyse our individual performances and look to improve our standard of cricket".

The final ODI will be played on Sunday in Perth, followed by a Twenty20 international on February 5 in Melbourne.