Salman Butt hoping to restart his cricket career as a match referee

Salman Butt has been gaining a lot of limelight lately owing to his comments regarding the Indian players or the game of cricket in general. The 36-year-old was one of the pillars of the Pakistan cricket team in the late 2000s. Salman managed to successfully establish himself as a regular opening batsman for the Men in Green in One Day Internationals and the purest format of the game. 

However, the 2010 spot-fixing scandal destroyed Butt’s cricket career as a batsman. Butt was found guilty in the controversial scandal and was thus banned from the gentlemen’s game for a period of five years. After the period of his suspension got over, the left-hander was hoping to make a comeback for the Pakistan team. However, Butt couldn’t work his charm again and was overlooked by national selectors. 

Meanwhile, it’s been learned that Salman is trying to start a second innings in his cricket career as a match referee. The renowned commentator participated in an online level-1 course for the umpires and match officials. On Monday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) kick-started an online project that will teach the interested candidates about the umpiring and the job of a match referee.

350 people participated in the online course organised by the PCB

The course has been started to give a new direction to the cricketers and increase employment opportunities for former Pakistan cricketers. During the course, the candidates will be taught about the basic umpiring rules, regulations, and laws of the game. After the completion of the course, the candidates will be required to undergo a written test and a fitness test followed by an interview. 

The successful completion of the course will make the participants eligible to officiate in the club and school-level games. Apart from Salman Butt, other notable names in the course list include Abdul Rauf and Bilal Asif. If reports are to be believed, then as many as 350 people took part in the online course, Pakistan newspaper News International reported. 

During his cricket career of eight years, spanning from 2003 to 2010, the 36-year-old represented Pakistan in 33 Tests and 78 ODIs matches scoring 1889 and 2725 runs respectively. He had also registered 11 centuries and 27 fifties for Pakistan in international cricket.