Former PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt passes away at age 85

[MenInG]

The Pakistan Cricket Board through its Chairman and members of Management Committee, Board executives and employees has expressed its grief and sorrow over the passing of former Test cricketer and its former Chairman Ijaz Butt today. He was 85.

Ijaz Butt, born in Sialkot on 10 March 1938, featured in eight Tests for Pakistan from 1959 to 1962. He also remained Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board from 2008 to 2011 and during his tenure Pakistan cricket team won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2009.

PCB Management Committee Chairperson Zaka Ashraf: “On behalf of the PCB, I want to express my deepest condolences on the sad demise of Mr Ijaz Butt.

“I had the privilege of knowing him personally and I have nothing but utmost respect for Mr Butt.

“I offer my deepest condolences to Ijaz Butt’s family and friends, and assure them that he will always be remembered for the contributions he made to Pakistan cricket.”

 

[tahir_dj]

انا للہ وانا الیہ راجعون اللہ اس کی مغفرت فرمائے اور جنت الفردوس میں جگہ عطا فرمائے آمین

 

[Savak]

Prayers for his family.

 

[Saj]

Sad news.

Quite a character back in the day and who will ever forget his statements during the spot fixing saga. At that time it was quite worrying what he was going to say and at one point it looked like ECB were going to sue him.

 

[Major]

A very interesting chairman he was, and alot had happened during his tenure for which he was at fault and not fault aswell.

The best thing about him was, bringing in discipline. Eliminating the stupid personalities from the team and restoring the order.

The sri lankan team attack was never his fault as the responsibility was on interior minister.

His mistake was letting yawar saeed go scott free. Never investigationg NBP team members as all the tumoured spot fixers at the time belongded from NBP department. Giving vice captiancy to kamran akmal. Than claiming English team was also fixing.

He had a media vendetta against him, but his decision to bring Misbah back as captain was such a master stroke that Misbah stayed captained till 2017. One of the best decisions he ever took.

I hope his family finds sabar, and may he rest in peace.

I wish we could look back into his playing career aswell

 

[James]

Rest in peace.

 

[Hassan A]

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is saddened by the news of the passing of former Chair of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and former ICC Director, Ijaz Butt, at the age 85 in Lahore on Thursday.
The former Test cricketer, who played eight matches as wicketkeeper for Pakistan from 1959 to 1962, later served as the Secretary of the Board for Control of Cricket in Pakistan, the forerunner to the PCB from 1984 to 1988, before rising to PCB Chair from 2008 to 2011 and ICC Director during the same period.
ICC Chief Executive, Geoff Allardice said: “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Mr Ijaz Butt, whose contribution to cricket in his country was enjoyed first, as a player, and later, his continued devotion to the game saw him serve as Chair of the PCB and ICC Director.
“We wish to express our heartfelt condolences to his loved ones, friends and the PCB during this difficult time.”

 

[Markhor]

RIP. He was certainly a character. I created a thread in 2011 just storing his quotes.

Accusing England of fixing after "hearing loud and clear" talk in bookie circles, calling the Big 3 sons of pigs, handing out life bans before U-turning, falling asleep in ICC meetings and that famous thumbs up meme were just some of the things I recall.

Strangely enough, on paper he seemed like an ideal candidate for PCB Chairman. He was a former administrator (I think he was team manager on the infamous tour of AUS when Dennis Lillee and Javed Miandad came to blows), an ex-player, and ran a business outside cricket. The problem was in 2008 he was about 20 years past his prime.

 

[Bewal Express]

Wasn't he the guy hiding the files for AZ.

 

[andy0204]

No disrespect but wasn't this guy who kept Younis Khan (in his prime) out for a year?

 

[Bhaijaan]

Rest in peace Ijaz bhai.

 

[Hassan A]

Rest In Peace

 

[sweep_shot]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun.

Damn! I didn't realize he was 85.

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan Cricket Board Management Committee Chairperson Zaka Ashraf and board officials today visited the grieving families of late Alamgir Tareen and late Ijaz Butt to express his heartfelt condolences.

Zaka Ashraf met Jahangir Tareen, Alamgir’s elder brother, and expressed his profound sadness on his passing. He praised Alamgir's dedication and unwavering commitment to promote sports at every level through Multan Sultans.

Alamgir was the owner of Multan Sultans and under his ownership, the franchise bagged the HBL PSL title in 2021 before going on to play the finals of the 2022 and 2023 editions.

On his visit to Ijaz’s house, Zaka spoke warmly of his long-standing relationship with the former PCB Chairman and recognised his services to the sport as a cricketer and administrator.

Ijaz, a former wicketkeeper-batter, played eight matches for Pakistan from 1959 to 1962. He served as the Secretary of the Board for Control of Cricket in Pakistan, the forerunner to the PCB from 1984 to 1988.

He was the PCB Chairman and ICC Director from 2008 to 2011.

 

[Saj]

Quite a character.

I remember interviewing him when he was Chairman and publishing the article a few days later.

A couple of days after I published the article he denied saying what he did to me and PCB published an article quoting the opposite to what he had told me.

The only problem for Butt sahib was that I had recorded what he had said (with his permission) and wrote exactly what he had said to me.

I offered him a chance to listen to the audio, but he never replied to me

 

[Major]

No disrespect but wasn't this guy who kept Younis Khan (in his prime) out for a year?

not his fault, but younis own

 

[Major]

I loved his quote, these big 3 are sons of pigs.

 

[Officer Barbrady]

Quite a character.

I remember interviewing him when he was Chairman and publishing the article a few days later.

A couple of days after I published the article he denied saying what he did to me and PCB published an article quoting the opposite to what he had told me.

The only problem for Butt sahib was that I had recorded what he had said (with his permission) and wrote exactly what he had said to me.

I offered him a chance to listen to the audio, but he never replied to me

Sadly he was diagnosed with dementia very soon after his pcb stint. He very well might not have remembered what he said to you and the condition probably contributed to some of his behavior during the chairmanship.

He still managed to make some fantastic decisions - putting Misbah, who wasn’t even in the test squad, in charge of the test team in 2010 was a master stroke. Provided the team stability for the next 6 years