Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Aamer, who was banned and jailed for spot fixing in 2010, is set to return to cricket. The ICC is expected to revise its anti-corruption code at a two-day meeting in Dubai on Sunday. It is expected that the ICC will pass a resolution that allows all banned players to feature in domestic matches before their suspensions expire.
According to a report on AFP, the ICC chief executive committee has already approved the new provision and has requested the full board to do the same. The revised code will apply to all banned players but it will benefit Aamer, who was banned from cricket for five years after he was caught in a spot-fixing scandal during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.
Aamer, along with pace bowler Mohammad Asif and then Pakistan skipper Salman Butt, orchestrated a plan to bowl deliberate no-balls in return for money during the Lord’s Test against England. In a News of the World sting operation at that time, it was revealed that Mazhar Majeed was the kingpin in the scandal.
In 2011, ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal chief Michael Beloff banned the players but also raised questions over the code. Aamer was banned for five years, Butt was banned for 10 years with five suspended while Asif was banned for seven years with two suspended.
In a statement, the ICC said, “The ICC will discuss the recommendations from the executive committee, including in respect of a revised anti-corruption code and a revised ICC anti-doping code.”
ICC chief executive David Richardson hinted in October that a revision of the code would be made in the November meeting. He said, “There is a provision now in the revised code which will allow a player who has been banned internationally to play domestic cricket for a certain period from his ban coming to an end.”
The ICC move has come about after the PCB requested a relaxation of certain conditions relating to Aamer’s ban. In the wake of the request, the ICC formed a five-man committee to consider the details of the code. If the revised code is given the green signal, a banned player will have to apply to the ICC to get permission to feature in domestic games.
