LAHORE – Tainted Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir, who has been excluded from the list of ‘Wisden Cricketers Almanack Five Cricketers of the Year’, has said that returning to the game was more important for him than having his name on the Wisden list. Amir has never seen a copy of Wisden – known as the Bible of cricket – that named only four instead of five Cricketers of the Year for the first time since 1926, as the suspended left-arm pacer has been removed from the list owing to a sanction of five years of ineligibility imposed on him in February by an Anti-Corruption Tribunal of the International Cricket Council on spot-fixing charges.
“Yes, I have come to know that my name was likely to have been in the list but because of the recent (spot-fixing) controversy, it has been omitted. I am indeed disappointed but can’t do anything other than repenting. Possibly next time…”The Daily Mail quoted Amir as saying. When reminded about the fact that the next time – a period of five years – is too long, Amir said optimistically: “We have filed the appeal in the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) in Switzerland and hopefully I will clear my name.”
He said getting his name cleared of spot-fixing charges and making a return to the sport was more important than the honour, which was denied to him. “I am unable to play the game and that is rather more important than not having my name in the Wisden,” Amir stated.
