London: As pleas of leniency towards 18-year old pace sensation Mohammad Amir grew, British newspaper The Daily Mail reported that Amir “will be told he could avoid a life ban if he gives evidence against his team-mates” in the ongoing inquiry into the spot-fixing charges against him, Butt and Mohammad Asif.
“Butt, Asif and Amir are still under investigation by the Metropolitan Police over the Lord's matter but are unlikely to face criminal charges. Instead, they will face heavy punishment from the game's governing body if they are found guilty by an independent panel of manipulating the Lord's Test by Asif and Amir bowling deliberate no-balls at the instigation of Butt.
“The ICC are investigating Australia's victory over Pakistan in the Sydney Test in January but they are satisfied the match was not fixed. Their probe centres on what Sir Ronnie Flanagan, head of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit, calls a ‘dysfunctional tour'. The ICC believe some players might have underperformed in that Test, but they did so because they were in dispute with captain Mohammad Yousuf,” the newspaper said.
Meanwhile, the ICC has asked Pakistan's suspended Test captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal to give their mobile phone records for an investigation into possible spot-fixing during the Asia Cup in June.
Akmal and Butt were reportedly contacted by the ICC after “suspicions arose during the Asia Cup. They expect the full cooperation of both players but have yet to receive a response from the Pakistan camp,” the newspaper reported.
The ICC reportedly wrote to them on August 21, days before a British tabloid's sting operation implicated Butt in a spot-fixing scandal. PTI
