Scotland remembers Asim Butt after death in Lahore

Asim Butt died in his sleep during a visit to Lahore, Pakistan, at the age of 42, according to contemporaneous reports. They do not give a medical cause of death. Team manager Euan McGregor told Cricbuzz that Butt had not been ill before what he described as his sudden death.

Cricbuzz also reported that Butt had undergone an operation a few years earlier for a blood clot on his brain, then recovered and returned to cricket. That account provides background, not an explanation for his death.

Butt moved to Scotland in the 1990s and played for Corstorphine, Stewarts-Melville/Royal High and Heriot’s, the BBC reported. He made his first Scotland appearance against Yorkshire at Boghall in May 1998 and played in all five of the country’s matches at the 1999 World Cup in England. His Scotland record came to 71 caps and 106 wickets.

The record included a notable performance at Lord’s in August 2000, when Sky Sports reported that he took six for 42 in the first innings against the MCC. But his international career also included a one-year ban from all competitions after he tested positive for ecstasy in 2005, according to the BBC. The Daily Telegraph reported that his final Scotland cap came that May, in a Totesport League match against Somerset.

Cricket Scotland announced Butt’s death and led tributes to him. The announcement closed a career that had begun in Scotland’s clubs, reached the World Cup and ended with 71 caps, while the circumstances reported after his death remained limited to his sleeping death during a visit to Lahore.