Mohammad Amir
after the spot-fixing scandal of 2010. While the most stringent
stipulations of the ban will still remain, the PCB has requested the ICC
to consider a few concessions, especially with regard to Amir using the
board's facilities for training.
A five-member ICC sub-committee, which was set up after the 2013 annual
conference to review the anti-corruption code, will also look into
relaxing certain conditions of the five-year ban imposed on Pakistan
fast bowler
A PCB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo: "The ICC, during the annual
conference week, constituted a five-member committee that will review
and recommend amendments to the ICC Anti-Corruption Code, and on
recommendation from the PCB, will also provide its suggestions to the
ICC board on the ban related to Mohammad Amir." The ICC was unwilling to
the reveal who would comprise the sub-committee.
Regardless of the recommendation from the committee, Amir will not be
able to play any kind of club, domestic, or international cricket and
will not train with the national team. The only significant allowance
that could be made is that he regain access to the training facilities
offered by the PCB.
ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB made the request to the ICC only
because Amir had complied with conditions of the ban: not committing any
further breach of the anti-corruption code and undergoing the ICC's
educational and rehabilitation programme. Amir will be available for
national selection from September 3, 2015, and the PCB sought the
relaxation of some terms so that he could be ready to play as soon as
his ban ends, rather than spend more months in training.
Amir had not been aware of the PCB's request but seemed content with
anything that would help him return to cricket. He hasn't been doing
full-fledged training but has kept himself in good shape. By the time he
completes his ban he will be 23. "I will come hard despite the
five-year in-activeness," Amir had told ESPNcricinfo last year. "I want
to come back with my head held high, with a new spirit and as a role
model."
Salman Butt, the Pakistan captain who was banned for ten years by the
ICC on charges of spot-fixing during the Lord's Test in 2010, had made a
similar request in a personal capacity two days before the ICC's annual
conference. His case, however, was not accepted as it was believed that
Butt had not fully complied with the ICC's conditions.
Butt had recently taken the first step in his rehabilitation by publicly admitting to
and apologising for his part in the spot-fixing scandal. He also
indicated his willingness to participate in the PCB and ICC's
rehabilitation programmes. Five out of Butt's ten-year ban from any
cricketing activities were to be a suspended sentence on condition that
he would commit no further breach of the anti-corruption code and
participate in a PCB-controlled anti-corruption education programme.
Of the three players banned by the ICC before the criminal trial began
in London - fast bowler Mohammad Asif being the third - only Amir had
pleaded guilty to the charges at the Southwark Crown Court. Both Butt
and Asif had pleaded not guilty and appealed their bans at the Court of
Arbitration in Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent. He tweets here
0 comments:
Post a Comment