British court orders Amir, Mazhar to appear in November

Karachi: A London court has ordered Pakistan`s young pace bowler Muhammad Amir and agent Mazhar Majeed to appear in person before it for a hearing into the spot-fixing case.

Amir and Mazhar have been summoned on November 3 and 4 after the judge began his summary of the trial at Southwark Crown Court. The judge presiding over the spot-fixing trial has instructed the jury at a London court to accept that Amir and Mazhar were involved in fixing. The two have not made an appearance in the trial that has now been on for 17 days with Pakistani players, Salman Butt and Muhammad Asif facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments. "Apparently the lawyers for Butt and Asif want to cross question them (Amir and Mazhar) as does the prosecution," a source said. The two have already submitted written statements to the court admitting their guilt and part in the fixing scandal. The Pakistani trio and their agent were accused of cheating and spot-fixing when the now defunct `News of the World` newspaper claimed that Asif and Amir bowled deliberate no-balls during the fourth Test match between Pakistan and England at Lord`s in last August. PTI