Butt Defiant
Pakistan century maker Salman Butt was defiant after being labelled a “lazy little runner” by his skipper, brushing off his part in two calamitous run outs as not worth moaning about.
His third Test century on Saturday, his second against Australia, was seen by many as a salve to the wounds left by Mohammad Yousuf’s daggers following his run out, made worse by Butt later also st*****ng his side’s second-best batsman Umar Akmal on Friday.
Butt however scotched those thoughts saying a batsman always feels good after a century.
“I don’t think it has something to do with these run outs because they are part of the game and we have to carry on now,” he said.
Butt’s 102 off 234 balls, including 17 fours, on day three of the third Test seemed short of a redemption for the 25-year-old, baked but not abandoned by his skipper for being a selfish, “lazy little runner”.
Describing Yousuf as an older brother, Butt said he had no knowledge of his blast over the runs outs, adding with a smile that he also hadn’t asked the skipper about them.
“Anybody in his place would have been like that so I don’t mind even if he said something,” Butt said.
"I think maybe for next time we should be careful and be helpful to each other.
"We’ve played enough cricket not worry about these things.
"He’s our best player and it would have been very good for us if he had stayed in and scored a big hundred but it’s something that happened.
“You just can’t keep moaning about it. You have to carry on.”
Despite top scoring in his side’s first dig, it will never be known what Yousuf, with a 53-run Test average, or the in-form Umar, would have made on the batsman’s paradise at Bellerive Oval.
During an admirable defence of his team after day two, saying they are doing the best they can with what they’ve got, Yousuf said he would work to build Butt’s spirits after the run outs and only counsel him about them after the match.
Butt’s third century in 26 Tests was all the more impressive because after eight 50s he’d earned a reputation for not being able to bridge the gap to 100.
He said there were no particularly difficult periods for him during the knock.
“The main idea was to be there as long as possible and if in the meanwhile you get a bad ball that you think can dispatch then play your normal game,” he said.
Butt was the first man out Saturday, caught at first slip, in a devastating bowling change introducing part-time left-arm leg-spinner Simon Katich.
His first salute after the gritty century was toward his dressing room.
Resuming at 4-94 on Saturday, Butt shared a 129-run partnership with former skipper Shoaib Malik (58) before becoming Australia’s first wicket in three hours of play, midway through the middle session.
Lazy little Butt makes some amends
](Lazy little Butt makes some amends)