ISLAMABAD // Mohammad Amir's mentor urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday to review the fast bowler's five-year ban for spot-fixing.
Asif Bajwa, who helped mould Amir from a village bowler into a world class left-arm paceman, said the 19 year old had admitted his mistake and should not be deprived of cricket until 2015.
Amir blamed the former captain Salman Butt for manipulating him into bowling two deliberate no-balls against England that led to his playing ban and three months in jail.
In an interview last week, Amir said he had been receiving great support from his family and "especially my sir [Bajwa]".
Amir will still only be 23 when his ban expires, but Bajwa wants to see his student back in international cricket by next year.
"Five years is too long a period," Bajwa said. "He is not going into an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, he has admitted his mistake and he has already served nearly two years of his punishment.
"I am quite confident that ICC will review its decision of a five-year ban."
However, Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said that Amir should focus on his rehabilitation, not on reducing the ban.
"Part of the sanction he received from the ICC tribunal was to educate himself and for him to educate others," Lorgat told ESPN CricInfo. "So let us do all the necessary building blocks before we get to a point where anyone could ask, 'Does he now deserve a review?"'
Zaka Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, has promised to conduct a rehabilitation programme for Amir. The five-year ban will run until September 2015.
Bajwa spotted Amir as an 11 year old boy in a village nearly 15 kilometres from Rawalpindi - a city where the former Test fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar learned his cricket.
Amir said he regarded Bajwa as "a father".
"I respect him and always will for playing a huge role in my life," he said. "I will never forget this and even now in this difficult period when lots of people desert you, he has continued to support me from the first day until now in exactly the same way as before."
Amir stayed in Bajwa's cricket academy for nearly five years before he was selected in Pakistan's Under 19 team.
While some former Test cricketers in Pakistan have questioned Amir's allegations against Butt, the fast bowler got support from India's former Test captain Rahul Dravid.
"Amir's is a superb player and when he has served his ban, I'd hope he'd be able to come back," Dravid said.
"We all want him to come back at some stage and I don't know whether that's ... it's going to be a challenge. I hope he can do it; it would be great if he can."
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani