butt was born in sialkot, punjab in 1938. he began his first-class career against a touring marylebone cricket club squad on 16 january 1956 while playing for pakistan universities. batting at number three, he scored 35 and 97, falling three short of a debut century thanks to the bowling of billy sutcliffe and the catching hands of ken barrington. the match ended in a draw. a month later he faced the mcc once more, this time for punjab: he scored 43 and 18 as the mcc triumphed by an innings and 29 runs. butt went on to make several successful appearances in the quaid-e-azam trophy over the winter of 1956/57, scoring 225 runs at 56.25 including a maiden century of 147 runs. he promptly toured the west indies but only featured in one first-class match before returning to the 1958/59 quaid-e-azam trophy where he had a less successful second season: 73 runs from three matches at 24.33, failing to pass 50. he nevertheless went straight into the test team for the home series against the west indies.