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Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt is Coming to Australia
Cricket Australia has
promised to tour Pakistan on two separate occasions in 2009, the first of which
has been planned for April, and will include five ODIs and a Twenty20 match.
They were due to visit in March 2008 but pulled out with security concerns. The
Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Mr. Ijaz Butt has reiterated that Pakistan's
priority is to host Australia's tour in their home country but admits that a
neutral venue remains a possibility.
Mr. Ijaz Butt is coming to Australia. He will arrive in Perth on 29th January
for a five days official visit to Australia. He will meet officials of
Cricket Australia in Perth and then Mr. Ijaz Butt will travel to Melbourne
for further discussions on venues of Pak Australia cricket.
Ijaz Butt
Full name: Mohammed Ijaz
Butt
Born: March 10, 1938, Sialkot, Punjab
Major teams: Pakistan, Lahore, Multan, Pakistan Universities, Punjab, Rawalpindi
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Fielding position: Wicketkeeper
Other: Administrator
Ijaz Butt was a dependable batsman and more than capable wicketkeeper who made
his Test debut against West Indies in 1958-59 as an opener, scoring 41 not out
in a ten-wicket win. The following winter he played twice against Australia,
making his only half-century at Karachi. In England in 1962 he struggled for
form in the three Tests he played, although overall he scored 1016 runs at 28.22
including a hundred before lunch against Kent.
He served as the secretary of the then Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan
between 1984 and 1988. He was also the president of the Lahore City Cricket
Association for many years. He toured Australia in 1982-83 as manager of the
Pakistan team and twice headed the national selection committee. In 2008, at the
age of 70, he was appointed as chairman of the Pakistan board following Nasim
Ashraf's resignation.
Ijaz Butt is the second Test Cricketer after Abdul Hafeez Kardar who will head
the Pakistan Cricket Board between May 1972 - Apr 1977. Former Cricketer Javed
Burki, served as Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee between Jan 13, 1994, Mar 20,
1995.Mr. Ijaz Butt played Test Cricket from 1959 to 1962 and toured West Indies
and England with the Pakistan Cricket Team. He played first-class cricket form
1955/56 -1967/68.Sialkot Born Butt, graduated from Government College Lahore in
1959. He did PMD from Harvard Business School, Harvard University in 1969 and
SMP from Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Vevy, Switzerland in 1978.
Before his appointment as Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt was the
member of the PCB Governing Board and also head of the Internal Audit Committee.
He was also the Honorary Secretary of the Board of Control in Pakistan from 1978
to 1988.
During his tenure as Secretary, Butt was sent as a Special Envoy of the
President of Pakistan to resolve a serious issue which had arisen between
Pakistan and Sri Lanka Cricket Teams which matter he resolved most adroitly. He
was also the Joint Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the World Cup in
1987 and was elected President of the Lahore Cricket Association from 1978 to
1987. In 2003 he was appointed as President of the Punjab Cricket Association.
Apart from being former Test cricketer Mr. Ijaz Butt brings to the job a vast
and varied administrative and business experience in the field of marketing and
production and product development. Mr. Ijaz Butt is currently a Director of the
Service Industry and was also a former President of the Lahore Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.
