ICC agrees to review Mohammad Amir ban next year

Mohammad Amir served three months in prison for spot-fixing (AFP\Getty)

Disgraced Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir is set to have his five-year ban for spot-fixing reviewed by the International Cricket Council.

The ICC Board has confirmed it would look into the 21-year-old’s suspension “in due course” following its final meeting of the year in London at the weekend. Any decision on reducing Amir’s ban – which ends in 2015 – will not be made until the ICC has adopted its new anti-corruption code.

That document could be approved as early as the ICC Board’s next meeting in January, when Amir could be granted the chance to resume a career that was left in tatters after he was part of a plot to bowl no-balls during the 2010 Lord’s Test against England.

“The ICC Board was informed that a revised version of a more robust and strengthened ICC anti-corruption code will be submitted for discussion/approval at the January 2014 meeting,” read a statement.

“During the discussion, the matter of Mohammad Amir’s five-year ban also came up for discussion. The ICC board decided to review the matter in due course after the revised ICC anti-corruption code has been finalised and adopted.”

Amir has not played international cricket since the Lord’s Test and, after pleading guilty to the spot-fixing charges, spent three months in a British prison.

Reports in Pakistan before the ICC Board meeting had suggested that a plea would be made to allow Amir to make an early return to cricket.

It was suggested the left-armer might be allowed to resume training at the National Centre in Lahore, and even play domestic cricket before his ban ends. A five-member ICC sub-committee was set up in July to look into the possibility of relaxing Amir’s ban.

The ICC also confirmed it had agreed to delay the deadline for the completion of the stadiums for next year’s World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. A decision has now been pushed back to 30 November after a request by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), although the format and schedule for the tournament is due to be announced on 27 October.

PA