Aamir may get a chance to resume career: PCB

Karachi: Disgraced pace bowler Muhammad Aamir might be given a chance to resurrect his international career when he comes out of jail and the ICC permits him to play again, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said today. Aamir and his two colleagues, Mohammed Asif and Salman Butt, were handed bans for their role in last year’s spot-fixing scandal in England. PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf also made it clear that he personally believed that whenever he is cleared by the ICC, Aamir needed to undergo intensive counselling before the selectors can consider him and decide about his future. [caption id=“attachment_178155” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Aamir, who will turn 20 in April, was given a six-month jail sentence by the crown court in London last October. AFP Photo”] [/caption] “There is no doubt about his immense talent but it is also a fact that we cannot condone the shame he and the two other players have brought to Pakistan. We will never support any player who indulges in such criminal and unethical activities,” Zaka Ashraf said. The PCB chief was responding to questions about what the future held for Aamir and the PCB’s policy regarding him at a press conference in the city on Tuesday. “I don’t know the exact dates but whenever he is released, we have to see what the provisions of the ICC ban are on him; whether he can play at any level. But I would like to see him undergo intensive counselling,” he said. Ashraf said as far as his future was concerned, it was for the selectors to decide what they wanted to do with him. “But let me be clear the PCB will not help or provide him any assistance at all in his appeal against the ICC ban. Whenever the ICC clears him, we will see what to do,” he said, adding, “But it is a fact that it was a big setback to Pakistan cricket to lose two top bowlers in such a manner.” Aamir, who will turn 20 in April, was given a six-month jail sentence by the crown court in London last October for his role in the spot-fixing scandal that was exposed in August, 2010 while Pakistan was touring England. The crown court in London also sentenced former captain, Salman Butt and Muhammad Asif to different jail terms and also passed a guilty verdict against their agent Mazhar Majeed on charges of corruption, cheating and fraud during the fourth Test against England at Lords in 2010. The ICC anti-corruption tribunal in February last year had already imposed a minimum ban of five years on Amir and teammates, for the spot-fixing scandal after they were first suspended in September 2010. PTI