Parliamentarian demands removal of Ijaz Butt

Iqbal Mohammad Ali, a leading Pakistan parliamentarian, has appealed to the country's president and patron PCB, Asif Ali Zardari, to remove chairman of the cricket board Ijaz Butt, who he felt was responsible for the continued deterioration of the national side." In a scathing two-page letter written to the President, Ali argues that Butt's administration has seen the team reduced to the status of "minnows."

The last year has been a particularly torrid one for Pakistan, their win in the ICC World Twenty20 last year followed by a disastrous tour of Australia. Several senior players were either fined or banned by the PCB in the aftermath of that tour, though most of the punishments were overturned soon after. Currently, after beating Australia in the Headingley Test in their ongoing tour of England, they capitulated to scores of 80 and 72 in their two Tests against England which they lost comprehensively.

"The chairman and his close aides have shoddily let down your confidence in them by making a mockery of management ethics at the board," wrote Ali, who also heads the national assembly's standing committee on sports. The standing committees of the upper and lower houses cannot take direct action against any organization, but they can pass on suggestions to the government.

"It is therefore recommended that a very dynamic and energetic administrator be made the chairman of the board so that the affairs of cricket in Pakistan are run professionally. (The) incompetence of Mr. Ijaz Butt has already brought enough shame for our country at international level."

Former players like Aamer Sohail, Abdul Qadir and Iqbal Qasim held senior positions in the PCB but resigned and Ali blamed Butt for their departure. He said they quit "due to egocentric and autocratic attitude of Mr. Ijaz Butt."

The board has also seen through five different Test captains in just over a year - Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammed Yousuf, Shahid Afridi and Salman Butt - and Ali said Butt and the management were responsible for such a "comedy of errors."

Ali also alleged that the present team manager Yawar Saeed, whom he said was close to Butt, was supporting certain "groups of players in the team which is destroying the unity." However, he didn't elaborate on the players involved.

Butt took over as chairman from Nasim Ashraf in October 2008.