ASIM BUTT, the former Scottish cricketer, died in his sleep while on a visit to Lahore, Pakistan on 29 November 2009 aged 42.
A left arm fast medium bowler and hard hitting right hand batsman, adept at pinch hitting in limited overs matches, Asim came to Scotland in the late 1990s after a first class career of varied success in Pakistan's domestic competitions.
He began his Scottish cricket with the Corstorphine club subsequently playing for the Stewart's-Melville/Royal High School and Heriot's FP clubs. It was while he was with his second club that he attracted the notice of the Scottish selectors.
He was, in all, to play 71 times for his adopted country, scoring 320 runs at 9.41 and taking 106 wickets at 24.86.
His batting record did not match his ability. He was always in a hurry to get on with things and probably threw his wicket away with injudicious strokes on occasions.
However his 320 runs included 35 boundaries of which 15 were sixes.
His best bowling figures were 6/42 v MCC at Lord's in 2000 when his wickets included South African Test batsman Zander de Bruyn, who has recently been a key part - as a Kolpak player - of the successful Somerset side.
Against Ireland in the Intercontinental Cup at Castle Avenue four years later, he took 9/72 in the match setting up an eight wickets victory by destroying the Irish upper order in each innings.
Ireland were put in perfect seam bowling conditions and never recovered from being 12/2 with Asim having Jeremy Bray for 0 and Andre Botha for 4. They had a role reversal in the second innings with Bray making 6 and Botha 0 , both again out to Asim, who also dismissed Jason Molins and Trent Johnston to remove any hopes of a recovery.
Asim, had a played in all five of Scotland's 1999 World Cup matches and had been a force in their ICC Trophy matches in Canada in 2001 when he made his highest score for Scotland, a robust 37 against the United Arab Emirates.
Unfortunately all this was to end in 2005 when he tested positive for ecstasy and was banned from all cricket for a year. He did not appear in Scottish representative cricket again.
In all first class matches, most of which were played in Pakistan in a career which had begun when he was a seventeen year old he scored 404 runs at 14.96 and took 67 wickets at 21.97.
Edward Liddle
Copyright: Cover Point
