Amir to be released this week

The Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Amir will be released from prison later this week and will revisit his efforts to have his ban from international cricket reduced.

Amir, who was convicted last November for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal, will be freed from Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset after completing half of his six-month sentence. The 18-year-old will spend three weeks in London before returning to his native Pakistan. He will hold a series of meetings with his lawyers to finalise an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the five-year ban imposed on him by the International Cricket Council.