Pakistan paceman Mohammad Aamer is set to return to domestic cricket next month with a Grade-II team in Karachi, an official said Tuesday, following the relaxation of a fixing ban.
The 22-year-old left-armer will play for Omar Associates in the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II national tournament — one rung below first-class — that begins March 9.
“We have signed Aamer to play for our team in the Grade-II as we think that everybody deserves a second chance in life and career,” Associates’ chief Nadeem Omar told AFP.
The Anti-Corruption and Security Unit of the International Cricket Council (ICC) last week cleared Aamer to play domestic cricket in Pakistan with immediate effect.
The decision followed last year’s ruling that allowed all banned players to return to first-class cricket a few months before their ban expires.
The ICC banned Aamer along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif for five years over a spot-fixing case in England in 2010.
The trio were convicted of taking money in return for bowling deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England in August that year.
All three players along with their agent Mazhar Majeed were jailed in Britain a year later.
Omar said Aamer has fulfilled all obligations as per the ICC rules.
“We have signed Aamer because he has fulfilled everything which was required of him and the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board cleared him,” he said.
“He is a very good talent and can be used as an ambassador of morality in the future.”
The PCB said Aamer would be monitored on and off the field for the next few months before being cleared to play international cricket once his ban expires in September this year. (AFP)
