Exclusive – Butcher: ‘World cricket wouldn’t miss Pakistan’

Mark Butcher has told talkSPORT he doesn't believe world cricket would miss Pakistan as the game continues to reel from match-fixing allegations.

Pakistan cricket board chairman Ijaz Butt claimed England threw the one-day international at The Oval on Friday, the latest scandal to engulf this summer's tour.

And former Surrey star Butcher is outraged at Butt's suggestion.

He told Hawksbee & Jacobs: "When I heard the latest story – if you can call it that – I was furious. I’d have been very, very reticent and loathe to play the game [on Monday]. To wake up to accusations like that was awful.

"I was thinking about it from the Pakistan point of view. They’ve had a terrible tour, can't win a game, they've had all these allegations levelled at them and they finally win and a guy that’s supposed to be on their side takes away all the glory by making up stories that England have thrown the match."

And Butcher insists that until the Pakistan cricket authorities clean up their act, they should have no place in the global game.

"I don’t think world cricket would miss them," he added. "Until their house is in order and they can host their own games at home, and until all the problems are solved, it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to want to host them on tour."