Former Pakistan Test captain Salman Butt has been appointed to a coaching role with Singapore’s national team, cricket officials said.
The 37-year-old, who was banned over a high-profile spot-fixing scandal, has been named consultant coach and will bring a “wealth of experience” to the side, the Singapore Cricket Association (SCA) said.
Butt’s first challenge will be the T20 World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe in July.
Commenting on the appointment of Butt, SCA chief executive Saad Khan Janjua said that he hoped Butt’s abilities and experience would inspire the Singapore players ahead of the qualifiers.
“Butt is an accomplished player with experience that can push the players to the next level,” Saad was quoted as saying in The Straits Times newspaper.
Notably, Singapore are not a top international side but have tasted some recent success as it won the 2020 Asian Cricket Council Eastern region T20 tournament after defeating Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Significantly, Butt was a part of the Pakistan national team between 2003 and 2010, when a spot-fixing scandal erupted on their tour of England.
Butt, who was the captain of the Pakistan team during that time, was charged with orchestrating deliberate no-balls from his pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif during a Test at Lord’s in return for money and was later banned for five years and also jailed by a UK court.