PCB chairman backs Amir`s return after serving ban

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf says he wants to see young fast bowler Mohammad Amir back into the national team.

Dubai: Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Zaka Ashraf on Friday said he wants to see young fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who was convicted on spot-fixing charges last year, back into the national team after serving his ban.

"I want to see Amir back but only after considering the legality of the case and only after he serves the ban," Ashraf told reporters. "We will rehabilitate Amir through an education programme, he is young, he committed a mistake and once he serves the ban then he could come into the team," said Ashraf. Amir, 19, was released from a British prison on Wednesday after serving half of his six-month sentence for his part in the spot-fixing scandal during the Lord`s Test between Pakistan and England in August 2010. His teammates Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif are still in jail serving 30-month and 12-month sentences respectively handed down by a British court in November last year. All three were found guilty of corruption and receiving illegal money. The ICC also banned the trio for violating the players` code of conduct, with Amir receiving the minimum five-year punishment. Ashraf, who took over as PCB chief in October last year, claimed Amir and the other two players had been "trapped". "We are sad about whatever has happened. Most of Pakistani people are sad for this young boy who, with the other players, were trapped by the Majeed brothers," said Ashraf of players`s agent Mazhar Majeed and his brother Azhar. PTI