Spot-fixing

Mohammad Amir features in ACSU's educational video

Umar Farooq

April 5, 2012

Mohammad Amir, the Pakistan fast-bowler banned from competitive cricket for five years for his part in the spot-fixing scandal of the 2010 Lord's Test, has appeared in an educational video on behalf of the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

In the five-minute video, Amir speaks about his life after being trapped by the illegal betting mafia, his embarrassment at lying to the ICC during its Qatar hearings and his three months in a British prison. Amir recounts his career, coming into the Pakistan team, and the Lord's Test, of which he says, "I took six wickets but I did something very bad… after a couple of hours, my life is changed, my life is ruined because of two no balls." It is understood the Amir video has also been shown to players from the various IPL teams in the lead-up to the event, which began on Wednesday.

Amir said he had wanted to confess to the ICC anti-corruption tribunal during their hearings in Qatar last January, but had been unable to do so. In the video, he says, "I always knew this was cheating cricket but I was under pressure. But I accept my mistake. When I was in the ICC hearing, I knew I was totally embarrassed because I knew I am lying. I wanted to tell the truth but I didn't have courage."

He said had bowled the no-balls at Lord's because, "some senior players put me under pressure. I didn't want to. One day I was on the top and the next day everyone was calling me cheater and fixer. You don't have words to explain that." The spot-fixing episode, he said, had been an act of entrapment but accepted his mistake of becoming a part of it. He said he was tricked into spot-fixing and he was not aware of the the player-agent Mazhar Majeed's intentions.

When he found himself facing a criminal trial, Amir said he had decided to tell the truth. The spot-fixing exercise was exposed by a sting operation arranged by the now defunct UK Sunday tabloid, the News Of the World. Amir who will turn 20 on April 13, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat at gambling and did not stand trial in London. He was sentenced to six months in jail and in the video says, "When the police put me in handcuffs I was literally crying and I was thinking I am not going to play cricket ever again."

His parting message in the video is, "Prison is a bad place for everyone. Don't make the mistakes which I did. I was stupid I didn't tell anybody because I didn't have coverage...If someone comes to you and asks you to do those kind of things, go straight to ICC team and team management they can help you."

Since his release after serving half of his six-month custodial sentence in England, Amir has been in contact with the ICC and PCB for an educational and rehabilitation program, which "remains confidential".

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo last month, the ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat had suggested the idea of Amir featuring in videos to point out the perils of corruption as part of educating young cricketers. "If Mohammad Amir stands up and delivers a message of caution about this murky world, people are going to sit up and listen. That is one example of rehabilitation,' Lorgat said.

In a televised interview with former England captain Michael Atherton last month, Aamer said his friendship with former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt was betrayed as it was Butt who had lured him into spot-fixing. Amir is currently living in Lahore, and serving his five-year ban which will run till 2015. There is no suggestion that Amir's appearance in the ACSU video will lead to a reduction of his ban.

There has been a lot of sympathy for Amir largely due to his age. Former captain Ramiz Raja met the bowler last week said, "the lad is obviously shaken badly by the gravity of events." The PCB at the moment is keen to take care of the bowler but is yet to launch any rehabilitation program officially; it is understood the ICC is supporting the PCB in the process. An ICC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo: "The ICC has been in contact with Amir and the PCB about appropriate education and rehabilitation at an appropriate time, the details of which remain confidential."

Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent

Amir to focus on ICC ban appeal

Pakistan news
Amir to focus on ICC ban appeal
Umar Farooq
February 26, 2012

Mohammad Amir is set to quickly start the process of trying to rescue his cricket career after returning to Pakistan following the completion of his sentence for spot-fixing. ESPNcricinfo understands that one of his early aims is to pursue his appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) against the five-year ban handed out by the ICC.

Amir returned to Pakistan on Saturday after being released from a young offenders' institute in Dorset after serving half of a six-month sentence handed down in November. The CAS, based in Switzerland, registered Amir's appeal in March 2011 - filed at the same time as those of Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt - after an ICC tribunal had banned the trio from playing any level of cricket.

The CAS is yet to announce a panel to hear the appeal and that will only be formed once Amir takes the process further. The appeal has been delayed because of the criminal charges involved and the sentences imposed.

"It's only the CAS now, which has the right to hear the appeal against the decision," PCB legal advisor, Taffazul Rizvi told ESPNcricinfo. "And any decision made by CAS shall be binding on all."

The PCB is not liable to provide a player financial aid while they pursue a case before the CAS, but the PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf has previously hinted that Amir would be given support while undergoing rehabilitation. "All offences against which the players were accused off were in their personal capacity for their personal acts so therefore they will face these (CAS) proceeding in their own personal capacity," added Rizvi.

"The cases will be handled in accordance with the procedural rules set out in the code of sports-related arbitration," CAS said in a statement when the appeals were lodged. "The parties will first exchange written submissions and will then be heard at a hearing, the date of which will be fixed at a later stage."

Amir will work with London-based solicitor Sajida Malik to draw up the appeal after Malik accompanied Amir back to Pakistan. Both avoided the media on their arrival in Lahore and remained shut away at Amir's home during the day.

The PCB are likely to put Amir into an education programme as part of his rehabilitation but are also keen to talk to him about the spot-fixing case. Under ICC regulations if a player who has been banned wants to return to cricket he must have gone through a rehabilitation course. As the PCB was his employer when the incidents occurred - Amir held a central contract - they can also decide to hold further investigations although Rizvi said it was a complicated process.

"As far as launching any further inquiry at this point that is something we need to look into," he said. "He has already been found guilty and sentenced from two different forums and is undergoing the sentences. It's not a simple matter and is legally complicated. But the PCB does hold the right to investigate the player."

Edited by Andrew McGlashan

Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent
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Saeed Ajmal to unveil special delivery against England

Pakistan v England 2011-12

Ajmal to unveil special delivery against England

Umar Farooq

January 6, 2012

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has confirmed he will unveil the "special delivery" he has been working on during Pakistan's upcoming Test series against England in the UAE. Ajmal had said in August, before Pakistan's tour of Zimbabwe, that he was saving the variation for the England series, and has now said he will try it but will revert to his existing variations if it does not work.

Saeed Ajmal teesra

"I am working on a special delivery," he said at Pakistan's training camp in Lahore. "I won't tell you about it but you will know it when you see it. If it does not prove to be reliable then I will shift my focus back to the deliveries that have brought me success and I will keep that variation for the next series."

Ajmal was the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket in 2011, with 50 wickets from eight games at an average of 23.86, and was a key factor in Pakistan winning five of those Tests. He took 18 wickets during Pakistan's last series in the UAE, against Sri Lanka in October-November last year, and said he recognised he would have an important role to play against England.

"We are going fully prepared and are working on special plans for their batsmen. I am aware of the weight of responsibility on me and am ready for it. In Dubai, the ball does break on the second and third day so hopefully I can play an important role. In Abu Dhabi it's difficult because it's a batting track."

Much of Ajmal's success in 2011 accrued from the inability of batsmen to read his doosra. Often in games, Ajmal bowled almost as many balls that turned the other way as regular offbreaks, leading to some apprehensions about him going the way of Saqlain Mushtaq in losing the ability to bowl his stock delivery. He also bowls with a flatter trajectory than most offspinners, but said that was because he was not comfortable flighting the ball.

"If I bowl with flight I cannot bowl well. If I bowl at a quicker speed I can then use variations in pace. If I take 90% of my wickets with the doosra why should I not bowl it? Whether you bowl a doosra or an offbreak, the ball should be bowled on the right line and one should take a wicket with it."

Ajmal's style of bowling is in stark contrast to England's offspinner Graeme Swann's, which is based on beating the batsman in the air and repeatedly landing his stock delivery on the right length. Though Swann took just 27 wickets in the eight Tests he played in 2011, he remains the highest-ranked spinner in the ICC Test rankings, and Ajmal said there would be healthy competition between the two of them through the series. "Swann is a good bowler and has even been the No. 1 bowler in the world. He has his own variety, I have my own."

Pakistan lost just one Test in 2011, and have won their last three Test series, though two of those have been against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Ajmal, though, pointed out that his best performances of the year had come against stronger opposition.

"Whomever you play against, you have to work for your wickets. Sri Lanka are a top team and I was Man of the Series against them. West Indies [against whom Ajmal took 17 wickets in two Tests] are not a bad team either - we have never beaten them in an away series. Bangladesh was not that good a team but only nine of my wickets came against them."

Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan-v-england-2012/content/story/548406.html

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, has confirmed he will unveil the "special delivery" he has been working on during Pakistan's upcoming Test series against England in the UAE. Ajmal had said in August, before Pakistan's tour of Zimbabwe, that he was saving the variation for the England series, and has now said he will try it but will revert to his existing variations if it does not work.

"I am working on a special delivery," he said at Pakistan's training camp in Lahore. "I won't tell you about it but you will know it when you see it. If it does not prove to be reliable then I will shift my focus back to the deliveries that have brought me success and I will keep that variation for the next series."

Ajmal was the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket in 2011, with 50 wickets from eight games at an average of 23.86, and was a key factor in Pakistan winning five of those Tests. He took 18 wickets during Pakistan's last series in the UAE, against Sri Lanka in October-November last year, and said he recognised he would have an important role to play against England.

"We are going fully prepared and are working on special plans for their batsmen. I am aware of the weight of responsibility on me and am ready for it. In Dubai, the ball does break on the second and third day so hopefully I can play an important role. In Abu Dhabi it's difficult because it's a batting track."

Much of Ajmal's success in 2011 accrued from the inability of batsmen to read his doosra. Often in games, Ajmal bowled almost as many balls that turned the other way as regular offbreaks, leading to some apprehensions about him going the way of Saqlain Mushtaq in losing the ability to bowl his stock delivery. He also bowls with a flatter trajectory than most offspinners, but said that was because he was not comfortable flighting the ball.

"If I bowl with flight I cannot bowl well. If I bowl at a quicker speed I can then use variations in pace. If I take 90% of my wickets with the doosra why should I not bowl it? Whether you bowl a doosra or an offbreak, the ball should be bowled on the right line and one should take a wicket with it."

Ajmal's style of bowling is in stark contrast to England's offspinner Graeme Swann's, which is based on beating the batsman in the air and repeatedly landing his stock delivery on the right length. Though Swann took just 27 wickets in the eight Tests he played in 2011, he remains the highest-ranked spinner in the ICC Test rankings, and Ajmal said there would be healthy competition between the two of them through the series. "Swann is a good bowler and has even been the No. 1 bowler in the world. He has his own variety, I have my own."

Pakistan lost just one Test in 2011, and have won their last three Test series, though two of those have been against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Ajmal, though, pointed out that his best performances of the year had come against stronger opposition.

"Whomever you play against, you have to work for your wickets. Sri Lanka are a top team and I was Man of the Series against them. West Indies [against whom Ajmal took 17 wickets in two Tests] are not a bad team either - we have never beaten them in an away series. Bangladesh was not that good a team but only nine of my wickets came against them."

Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan-v-england-2012/content/story/548406.html