I have a feeling that England Test Cricket captain Andrew Strauss was more than a little frsutrated and angry at the haughty manner in which Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt's claim that England players might have lost the third NatWest Series match on purpose in return for "enormous amounts of money".
There was no basis for the claim and a furious Strauss raised the possibility of legal action against Butt and, indeed, I recommend that he backs up the threat by issuing proceedings (unless his case is likely to be heard by someone named "Goldstone").
So imagine how those who expect fair treatment for Israel in the face of constant slurs from the bash Israel lobby feel. There are thousands of Ijaz Butts running around, not only in the Arab world but in Europe, America and even in Australia.
Henceforth, any reckless, unsubstantiated slur will be known around here as a "head butt".
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This was reported last week. They gave the Pakistanis air time to make the accusation as a politically correct way to be seen as balanced (this was on ABC [Australia] TV news bulletin) after all the far more serious allegations and evidence that the Pakistanis had been involved in match fixing.
It never occurred to those who put together news bulletin that the accusations were baseless and only for domestic consumption (i.e. for the audience in Pakistan) as a sop for all the pressure that they were coming under.
If the situation was reversed and it was Australian or English officials giving a news conference in Pakistan to accuse Pakistanis of match fixing against their own teams, the media and all the op-ed commentators (both in Pakistan and in the home country) would have condemned the officials severely if the accusations were found to be baseless. Because the opposite is true the Pakistanis can say what they like and there are no recriminations.
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