ICC probing Amir ban breach claims

The International Cricket Council are investigating reports that Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir has continued playing despite his ban for spot-fixing, a spokesman said Wednesday. Amir, 19, was hit with a five-year ban in February following allegations of involvement in a spot-fixing scandal. However reports in England have said Amir has flouted the terms of his ban by playing for a junior club in Surrey. “We have heard the reports and we are investigating,” ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald said. “The suspension very clearly states that it is a suspension from all forms of cricket and all cricket-related activities.” The Daily Star reported that Amir had been spotted playing for Addington 1743 in a Surrey Cricket League Division One game last Saturday. Witnesses said Amir stole the show, scoring 60 runs before taking four wickets in an 81-run win over St Lukes.
“No one could quite believe it was him,” St Lukes batsman Karl Quinn, 37, was quoted as saying. “There was no attempt to disguise who he was, he even posed for a picture with me. “One of our Pakistani players was rubbing his eyes in disbelief and asking: ‘Is that who I think it is?’. He didn’t stay till the end but it was blatantly him.” I didn’t know it was a league fixture: Staff Reporter adds: Mohammad Amir confirmed that he had featured in a Surrey Cricket League Division One match for Addington on Saturday. Amir was quoted by Pakpassion as saying that the reasons behind his appearance was he never knew that the match was a league fixture. “I was informed by club representatives before the game that it was a friendly match, being played on a privately owned cricket ground. I asked the club representatives if the match fell under the jurisdiction of the ECB and they informed me that the match did not.
I spoke to several club representatives about the issue and they all told me that it was a friendly match and therefore would not contravene my ban from the ICC. I was informed that I was fine to play.” Amir, who is currently serving a ban for spot fixing during the 2010 series in England, denied that he had signed any sort of registration documents with the club and insisted that he would not risk aggravating his standing by playing in a meaningless fixture.