The Pakistan Cricket Board has dismissed reports of filing an appeal against the 5-year ban imposed on Mohammad Amir by the International Cricket Council.
Recently, some reports emerged which stated that the PCB was not happy with the ban on Amir and had decided to support the youngster in the higher courts.
A PCB official clarified, “We have filed no formal appeal as such. Yes we have written to the ICC about the case in light of the observations made by the ICC anti-corruption tribunal regarding the existing anti-corruption code of conduct laws under which Butt, Asif and Amir have been penalized.”
On the other hand, the ICC has also stated that the PCB has nothing to do with the process of filing any appeal for Amir or any other banned player.
On 5 February, 2011, the ICC handed over lengthy bans to Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt due to their involvement in spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour to England in August 2010.
The banned trio was alleged over bowling pre-planned no-balls in the Test match against England at Lord’s and was suspended provisionally by the ICC following the incident. A six-day trial of the three players was held in Doha in January 2011 where they were proven guilty and were handed over the punishments in February.
Butt was banned for 10 years with 5 years as suspended while Asif was banned from cricket for 7 years with 2 years as suspended. On the other hand, Amir will effectively stay out of cricket until the next ICC World Cup in 2015.
The bans on the trio have damaged the image of Pakistan cricket to a large extent. Their absence from the ICC World Cup 2011 will surely hamper Pakistan’s chances in cricket’s flagship tournament.
There were expectations that Amir may not be banned for a longer time considering his young age and inexperience in the game. However, the three-man ICC tribunal showed no leniency for the youngster.
There have been mixed reactions following the ban on Amir. Many former cricketers said that his ban was too harsh.
Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Qadir stated that the 5-year ban for bowling just one no-ball was not justified and he was shocked at the ICC decision.
On the other hand, former England captain Michael Vaughan claimed that the ICC should have banned the trio for life in order to eliminate corruption from the game.
Vaughan further added that Amir will return to cricket at the age of 23 and will still have at least 10-12 years left in his cricketing career. The former England captain was of the opinion that it would not be a good message for the youngsters as it will encourage them to commit wrongdoings in the hopes of getting away with it.
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