'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

‘Amir’s no-ball greatly surprised me’ - Waqar
ESPNcricinfo staff
December 28, 2010

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Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has told the ICC Code of Conduct Commission that Mohammad Amir’s infamous no-ball during the Lord’s Test had surprised him “greatly” because it was very different from his normal delivery stride. He said he’d taken up the issue with the bowler, only for the then captain, Salman Butt, to intervene before Amir could reply.
Waqar’s statements, published in Dawn, formed part of his testimony to the commission investigating the spot-fixing case, which will hear testimony from the three players suspended by the ICC - Amir, Butt and Mohammad Asif - from January 6-11 in Doha. All three have denied their involvement in any spot-fixing.
Waqar said he’d been “greatly” surprised by Amir’s no-ball during the Lord’s Test. "This was because Amir’s front foot stepped over the line by a great distance whereas usually, if anything, Amir tends to bowl from well behind the front-foot line.
**“I was so surprised by the delivery that when we went back into the dressing room at the end of that morning session I said to Amir in Punjabi, ‘What the hell was that?’. But before Amir had the chance to answer my question, Salman interrupted from across the dressing room, saying: ‘I told him to do it because the batsman was coming on the front foot. I told him to come forward and bowl him a bouncer’.” :smiley:
**
Following the expose in the News of the World, Scotland Yard raided the Pakistan team’s hotel in London and questioned the trio as well as a fourth player Wahab Riaz, who was not suspended.
The team’s security manager, Khawaja Najam, told the commission of vast sums of money being confiscated from the room of one of the players. “During the Scotland Yard search of the players’ rooms at the team hotel, two police officers found cash in a bag and a small suitcase which they seized. Most of the cash was in the suitcase,” Dawn quoted Najam as saying. "I asked the police officers to put on record the amount of money they had confiscated and they did so immediately.
“I have retained that note and attached a copy of it which reads as follows: Room No. 714 - 24,300 UAE Dirhams, 29,787 pound sterling, 12,617 US dollars, 10 Australian dollars, 26,015 Pakistani rupees, 350 Canadian dollars and 440 South African rand.” “While we were there, the police officers asked Salman why he had so much cash in his room and Salman stated: ‘It’s for my two sisters, they are getting married, it’s for their dowry’.”
From Amir’s room, Najam said, the police found “a Tag Heuer mobile phone and possibly other mobile phones, 5,000 pounds in cash, a few hundred US dollars and a white envelope with 2,500 pounds.”
Speaking to Sky News two weeks ago, Butt explained in detail the money found in his room. Part of the money [11,000 pounds], he said, came from his daily tour allowance; another 4,500 pounds was from his extra entertainment allowance as team captain, while 2,500 pounds was for the opening of an ice-cream parlour in south London. The rest of the money, he said, was advanced payment for bat stickers which he was under contract for.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/494508.html

Re: ‘Amir’s no-ball greatly surprised me’ - Waqar

At least he is diversified :smiley:

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

well this is very interesting...if butt, as a captain, has already taken the blame for the no ball, how can you sue aamir for anything? from judicial standpoint it gets even more interesting…if waqar is willing to provide a testimonial on oath that he was told firsthand by salamn butt that aamir no-balled on salman’s instructions to “frighten” the batsman then there is no case against aamir unless ICC provides with a crystal clear proof that establishes a direct relationship between aamir and bookie….ICC can make whatever decision it wants but I am sure aamir will go to the Lahore high court the very next day and should be able to get the ICC verdict revoked on judicial basis…

If I were in aamir’s palce, here is what I would do….I will immediately take a very strong position against slaaman butt by putting the whole blame on butt saying that I delivered that no ball because my captain asked me to do it to frighten the batsman…In court, Waqar should then testify on quran/oath that salman butt "himself confessed this to him"….in the mean time, aamir should continue to beat the bush against Butt in the press. I really don’t think ICC has any case or verdict againt aamir so to speak. Butt should be screwed because he is a useless player plus he is the one who involved aamir into this mess…

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

^ Salman Butt's statement only goes on to defend the 'bouncer' but it doesn't say that Butt told him to over-step in the process.

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

that is not true....if i remember correctly salman butt has confessed that he specifically asked aamir to bowl at least 1-2 feet ahead of the crease to deliver a fierce short pitch ball to stop trott from coming on front foot....but from judicial standpoint we need a testimonial because butt will immediately revoke his statement in the court stating that he was misrepresented and he never asked amair to ball a no ball and a bouncer… if waqar can say on oath that butt did confess to him that he asked aamir to bowl a no ball and a bouncer then aamir will be safe….of course I am presuming that ICC has already proofs of butt’s direct connection with bookie but they don’t have any direct proof for aamir….

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar


Where did you get that from?

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

what do you mean.....sorry if i was not clear....when i read in dawn it clearly mentioned that butt asked aamir to come "forward" and ball a "bouncer".....what else "come forward" could mean? to me it means "deliver a no ball by overstepping"....

that 1-2 feet comment is from an earlier interview of butt (right after the incidence) but I was not able to find a clip of it...so i will take that back...but still "come forward" is a very catchy statement by butt....here is what dawn says:

"But before Aaamir had the chance to answer my question, Salman Butt interrupted from across the dressing room, saying: ‘I told him to do it because the batsman was coming on the front foot. I told him to come forward and bowl him a bouncer"

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

If Aamir is involved in the money making, he should be banned. He must not escape through legal loopholes.

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

I agree 100%...if there is a proof, he should be banned for ever but if we dont have any proof against him then aamir can take the stand that I mentioned above....butt and asif on the other hand are proven culprits and i think ICC has enuf proof against butt....

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

From the article in 1st post:

[QUOTE]
if anything, Amir tends to bowl from well behind the front-foot line.
[/QUOTE]

so here Salman can argue that by asking him to 'come forward' he meant to be not so 'well behind the front-foot line' but rather be on the line.

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

you have a point captain especially from judicial standpoint....

anyway, you know as much i do that we are trying to save "*******s"....they have betrayed us and the whole nation knows about it but no one wants to admit it....i have taken a stand from day one that ban them should we find them guilty....not only them but kamran akmal and shoaib malik shd also be investigated....aamir’s case always gets little tricky because of his younger age and “what exactly was his level of involvement”…..that is why I want go give him benefit of doubt if we do not have proof against him…otherwise he should be banned for life as well (if there is a proof)…for others, even if we don’t have clear proof against them, DO NOT SELECT THEM AGAIN……they will destroy the team’s moral fabric once again….

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

Are you Naive, in KG or are you a naive kindergartner? If that meant anything, then nawaz sharif and his entire family, along with all of the leading politicians and their families would be in jail. No one cares for this as they consider it nonsense.

Plus your argument is full of Falacy. I am unsure of how much knowledge you have for due proces, even in a dominion like Pakistan, but law does not work like you think it does..lol. They have evidence they can verify. There is a whole lot more available to prosecutors then is published. There is a REASON the authorities are ACTUALLY pursuing such measures THIS TIME.

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

dude get a life...no need to be so constipated...learn how to carry a discussion respectfully...i specifically mentioned in my next post that "of course I am presuming that ICC already has proof of butt’s direct connection with bookie but they don’t have any direct proof for aamir"...

everyone knows that *"the authorities are ACTUALLY pursuing such measures THIS TIME"..*lol....of course ICC will try its level best to collect all possible evidences against aamir and if ICC succeeds in providing enough evidence (evidence should be strong enough to stand in judicial hearing as well), then there is no need for us to have any further discussion……aamir will be and should be prosecuted…case closed....

but what I am saying that IF ICC fails to provide a solid evidence against aamir, then in that case aamir's best defense should be to insist that “my skipper specifically asked me to "step forward" and "bowl a bouncer” to “unsettle the bastman” and that “I had no clue whatsoever about the real intentions of my captain”...in that case of course, aamir needs someone to verify his claim and if waqar is willing to do so in a categorical fashion under oath, then aamir has a strong case…that is all I am saying…does it sound simple?…sure it is but remember, the burden is not on aamir to prove his innocence....it is the other way around...someone needs to prove him culprit!

Now speaking of assumptions and educated guesses, it appears to me that the actually evidence that would establish a direct “criminal” relationship between aamir and mazhar majeed would be difficult to obtain…and by direct relationship I mean there should be a recorded conversation between both or something that should be rock solid…now salman’s case is different.. he has been interacting with mazahr for at least 4 years….so there may be a lot of text messages, money-exchange proofs and phone conversations and what not but I doubt there will be so much material available for aamir because he is so new to this whole new mess…but of course this is a persumption my behalf based on how events have unfolded so far.

just wait and see...I have a feeling that aamir will be prosecuted by ICC and the very next day he will go to LHC or international sports court and his line of defense will be the same that I mentioned …also, what ICC is conducting is a mere hearing and the level of jurisprudence and judicial evidence required to prosecute is different from what you will expect in a court…of course ICC is aware of it so I think they will nail down butt so that he cannot get away from any court (weather it is Pakistan court or The International Court of Arbitration for Sport)…and yes in pakistani courts you do testify by putting your hand on quran.

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

Even though the conversation shows that during the tour of England, no one was listening to the coach rather going on their way. There was clearly a disconnect with respect to the captain and coach. However, does not prove that Salman Butt or Mohammad Aamir are involved in any kind of fixing.

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

yeah but you just made Aamirs case more strong by that...think about it, since Aamir was a behind the line bowler by habit, then forcing him to come forward to bowl an EXTRAORDINARY bouncer probably totally messed up his run up and hence he over shot so grossly ahead of the bowling crease...

In any case, if ICC has only this then they are sure full of hot air. It is worth it to wait and see if they show some real proof.

Re: 'Amir's no-ball greatly surprised me' - Waqar

Not really, Aamir had bowled bouncers before as well, it was not his 'debut' game so a bowler of his caliber would know how to bowl bouncer. Besides, if he really was 'forced' then we would've heard it when the case was hot. To me he was member in the party.