Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir has been released from jail after serving half of a six-month sentence for his role in a match-fixing scam related to the bowling of deliberate no-balls during Pakistan’s 2010 test against England at Lords.
Amir, 19, was freed from Portland Prison in Dorset today. He was viewed by many as having the potential to become one of the all-time great fast bowlers.
Amir was jailed at London's Southwark Crown Court last November along with former captain Salman Butt, 27, who was jailed for two-and-a-half years for his role as the "orchestrator" of the scam, and one-time world number two Test bowler Mohammad Asif, 28, who was jailed for one year. Sports agent Mazhar Majeed was jailed for two years and eight months for his part in the plot. All three players are also serving five-year bans from the game.
News of the fixing scandal emerged in August 2010 after an undercover News of the World reporter approached Majeed pretending to be a wealthy Indian businessman looking to recruit big-name international cricketers for a tournament. Majeed was then secretly filmed accepting £150,000 in cash from the journalist as part of a plot to fix matched. Majeed promised the reporter that Asif and Amir would deliver three no-balls at specific points during the Lords Test.
Amir, the youngest cricketer ever to take 50 Test wickets, admitted bowling two intentional no-balls at Lords. At his trial, presiding judge Mr Justice Cooke said Amir was "unsophisticated, uneducated and impressionable" and "readily leant on by others", but noted there was evidence that he had also discussed rigging an earlier match with a betting contact in Pakistan.
Amir and Butt failed in an attempt to have their sentences reduced at the Court of Appeal in November.