Salman Butt : Cricket can never be completely free of corruption

Butt, Mohammad Amir, and Mohammad Asif were handed bans after being caught by a sting operation for arranging deliberate no-balls during a Test match on Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010. The trio were also jailed by a UK court.

“I have been there and I have seen it. Complete elimination is not possible because it requires just one moment of weakness and one wrong decision to destroy yourself with corruption,” 32-year-old Butt, who was captain on that tour, told PTI news agency.

“But it is a fact that after the spot-fixing scandal involving us in 2010 a lot of deterrents have been put into place to educate the players about anti-corruption measures. I myself have given lectures to teams on this issue from the first-hand experience. It has made a difference.”

Butt scored a century in each innings in the five-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final this week to help his side Wapda win the title for the first time.

“I am just thankful to God for giving me another chance to taste cricket success. I just know that there is true remorse in my heart for what happened six years ago and I just pray I get another chance to play for Pakistan and do something big for the country to atone for what I did.

“Honestly speaking I have been through a lot and I realise how badly I damaged the image of Pakistan cricket and myself. But I can only apologise and ask for forgiveness from all those people who were hurt by my actions.

“But it is over now and I have served my time. I am 32 and my only aim is to get back to international cricket. My job is to perform and the selectors and board have to decide about my future. But I am banking on getting back soon.”