Ijaz Butt

Mohammed Ijaz Butt (اعجاز بٹ; 10 March 1938 – 3 August 2023) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in eight Test matches from 1959 to 1962.

A wicket keeper and right-handed opening batsman, he scored 279 runs from his brief Test career at a modest batting average of 19.92, however he was a capable wicket keeper with a first-class cricket career for Lahore, Multan, Punjab and Rawalpindi where he scored 3,842 runs at 34.30 with a best of 161.

Ijaz Butt was born in Sialkot, Punjab on 10 March 1938.

He began his first-class career against a touring Marylebone Cricket Club squad on 16 January 1956 while playing for Pakistan Universities.

Batting at number three, he scored 35 and 97, falling three short of a debut century thanks to the bowling of Billy Sutcliffe and the catching hands of Ken Barrington.

The match ended in a draw.

A month later he faced the MCC once more, this time for Punjab: he scored 43 and 18 as the MCC triumphed by an innings and 29 runs.

Butt went on to make several successful appearances in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy over the winter of 1956/57, scoring 225 runs at 56.25 including a maiden century of 147 runs.

He promptly toured the West Indies but only featured in one first-class match before returning to the 1958/59 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy where he had a less successful second season: 73 runs from three matches at 24.33, failing to pass 50.

He nevertheless went straight into the Test team for the home series against the West Indies.

Butt played Test cricket between 1959 and 1962.

He made his Test debut at Karachi on 20 February 1959.

The West Indies, bowled out cheaply for 146 in the first innings, conceded a 10-wicket defeat with Butt scoring 14 and 41 not out as a specialist opener.

He scored two, 21, 47* and two in the rest of the series.

Between 26 March and 4 December he played two more Tests against Australia, scoring a career-best 58 in the second Test.

He was then left out of the team until 1962, where he toured England, playing in three of the five Test matches.

He struggled, scoring 10, 33, one, six, 10 and six before being dropped.

Following the end of his international career, despite scoring over 1,000 first-class runs in the England tour including two centuries, he made only sporadic appearances in Pakistani domestic cricket.

He appeared in only three Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches between 1963 and 1965; an invitational XI match for the Punjab Governor against Pakistan Universities in 1966; Pakistan versus The Rest in 1967; and lastly one appearance in the Ayub Trophy on 15 January 1968 where he scored 40 and 15 for the Lahore Reds.

In 1977, he served as the president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He also worked as the director new projects at Service Industries Pakistan, expanding it to one of the largest manufacturers of footwear and motor cycle / cycle tyres and tubes.

He was a director on the board of Servis Tyres.

In 1982, Butt was appointed manager for the Pakistani winter tour of Australia, and in 1984 the secretary of the then Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan, a position he held until 1988 along with the presidency of the Lahore City Cricket Association.

On 6 October 2008, President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), appointed Butt as chairman of the PCB.

He was involved in several controversies during his term, at a time when security concerns—including a shooting incident involving the Sri Lankan tour bus—stripped Pakistan of several international fixtures, and he made a number of attacks on PCB officials and the Senate of Pakistan.

In October 2008, he was named chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

His initial actions were to suggest the possibility of neutral venues to preserve international cricket during a time of tenuous security conditions within Pakistan: "The holding of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan depends on the security condition of the country and if the current indefinite situation prevails further we may consider the option to play on alternate venues."

In October 2008, he also asked questions of the financial security of the previous PCB officials, and speculated on the removal of Geoff Lawson, then Pakistani coach, from his position.

Two days later, however, he reversed his position by stating he was "duty-bound to fully back Lawson and to take care of all his liabilities."

Shafqat Naghmi, PCB Chief Operating Officer, also threatened to sue Butt over allegations that the former was stealing official documents.

Security concerns did not lessen, however, and Javed Miandad's resignation as director-general of the PCB resulted in traded accusations between himself and Butt at a Senate of Pakistan meeting.

Butt refused to step down, and attacked the senate as a body with little actual legal power over the PCB.

The senate nevertheless moved a resolution for a change in the PCB management.

However, Butt remained in his position.

He expressed relief when the 2009 Champions Trophy appeared to be going ahead in Pakistan despite security risks, and "made a series of startling revelations" about discussions with the International Cricket Council about merging with the Indian Premier League.

Pakistan, however, received little support as potential hosts of the Champions Trophy, a fact on which Butt expressed surprise.

He warned that a divide would occur in the world of cricket should sub-continent cricket tours be marginalised.

India later cancelled their tour to Pakistan, though Butt was hoping to host Australia after the latter team expressed an interest.

Following an attack on a touring Sri Lanka cricket team in early 2009, Butt admitted in a public statement the difficulty international teams had in coming to the country, but accused ICC referee Chris Broad of exaggerating the problems.

ICC President David Morgan, however, agreed with Broad's assessment.