Dubai - Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir can make a return to domestic cricket immediately after the International Cricket Council eased his five-year fixing ban which will end in September.
Amir was banned from all cricket after pleading guilty in 2010 to charges of bowling deliberate no-balls at pre-arranged times during a test against England to fix spot betting markets.
The ICC said Thursday that Sir Ronnie Flanagan, chairman of its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, had decided to “allow Mohammad Amir to return to domestic cricket played under the auspices of the Pakistan Cricket Board with immediate effect.”
The PCB wrote to the ICC last year asking for a reconsideration of Amir's ban. Two other Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were banned for a minimum of five years for similar offences in the same test against England at Lord's, but both fought against their bans before eventually losing their appeals in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The PCB didn't raise the cases of Butt and Asif's bans to the ICC.
Amir was reportedly interviewed by the ICC last week in Dubai and Flanagan sought prior approval from the ICC Board and the PCB before deciding to allow Amir back into domestic cricket.
“He (Sir Flanagan) was satisfied that Amir had cooperated with the ACSU by fully disclosing his part in the matters that led to his disqualification, admitting his guilt, showing remorse and cooperating with the Unit's ongoing investigations and by recording messages for the ACSU education sessions,” the ICC said in the statement.
In other decisions taken during the ICC Board meeting, it was also decided to reinstate the “Super Over” in case the World Cup 2015 final is tied.
The board also ruled that captains of all the World Cup 2015 teams will not carry any prior over-rate suspensions from other series into next month's event. Instead, over-rate offences will be carried over to the first bilateral series after the World Cup.
Sapa-AP