The ICC is investigating claims that Pakistan seamer Mohammad Amir has defied his ICC ban by playing for Addington in the Surrey Cricket League Division One, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
Amir played club cricket in Surrey last Saturday. He reportedly started for Addington 1743 in a Surrey Cricket League Division One fixture against St Lukes at the LSE ground in New Malden – which is just 14 miles from Lord’s. He scored 60 with the bat and then took four wickets to help his new team-mates to an 81-run victory. One of the St Lukes players said: “No one could quite believe that it was him.”
The sanction – imposed on Amir and two other Pakistani cricketers following the spot-fixing investigation – bars him from participating in the game at any recognised level, and he could be in breach of the ICC ruling if he played for Addington.
“We are investigating and awaiting the details,” ICC spokesman Colin Gibson told the paper. “If true, it is clearly a breach of the sanction imposed in February. The ban is absolutely worldwide covering all levels and any activities connected with cricket. What might happen next is a hypothetical question at this stage.”
Amir, 19, was handed a five-year ban from the game after being found guilty of bowling no-balls on demand during the Lord’s Test last against England last summer. Amir’s team-mates Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were also handed bans, and all three players are awaiting trial at Southwark Crown Court over allegations of cheating and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments.
