ISLAMABAD: The 22-year-old banned Pakistani left-arm fast bowler Muhammad Amir is likely to start playing domestic cricket from February 2015.
“Mohammad Amir, the banned fast bowler, could start playing competitive cricket as early as next month, with the ICC set to approve his reintegration following the introduction of a revised anti-corruption code,” according to ESPNcricinfo.
Muhammad Amir along with the opening batsman Salman Butt and another fast bowler Muhammad Asif was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal on February 5, 2011 after being found guilty of deliberately contriving no-balls in return for money in the Lord’s Test in England in 2010.
The ICC tribunal handed Muhammad Amir a five-year ban, Muhammad Asif was handed a seven-year ban while Salman Butt was given a 10-year ban from participating in any cricketing related activities which are governed by the ICC or any of its members.
In November last year, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wrote a letter to the ICC requesting that the governing body review the conditions of Muhammad Amir’s spot-fixing ban. The letter requested that Muhammad Amir be allowed to return to domestic cricket before his five-year ban ends in September 2015.
“The PCB has officially sent a letter to ICC, asking it to review the ban on Mohammad Amir in light of the revision in the [ICC’s] anti-corruption code,” a PCB spokesman had told ESPNcricinfo.
As per the revised anti-corruption code, banned players could be allowed to return to domestic cricket before the end of their penalty if they meet certain criteria.
Muhammad Amir made his first-class debut in 2007, and his first One-Day International (ODI) and Test appearance in 2009 in Sri Lanka at the age of 17. However, he played his first international match during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 where he played in every game, helping the national side win the tournament.
