The year of 2010 and the tour of England was a horific year for Pakistan, It was when three cricketers: Salman Butt; Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were sent to prison for match fixing. It was a Test match that took place at Lord's. The three pre-determined no-balls were bowled - two by Amir and one by Asif, orchestrated by Butt and arranged by Mazhar Majeed.
The three players were tried at a London court. They were charged with accepting corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat. Amir and his agent, Mazhar Majeed, both plead guilty to the charges. Amir was sentenced to six months and Majeed received a 2 years and 8 months sentence. Butt and Asif decided to fight the charges and pleaded not guilty. Their efforts were unsucessful. Butt, who was the captain at the time, got a sentence of 2 and-a-a-half years while Asif got a year in prison.
The judge, Justice Cook, made clear to Majeed and Amir that their sentences had been reduced - from four years and nine months, respectively, because they had pleaded guilty.
They would serve half of the sentence in custody and the other half on license. They would go back to prison if they broke the condition.
The PCB called it a, "sad day" for Pakistan cricket. "Instead of having pride in playing for their country, these players chose to disappoint their supporters, damage the image of their country and bring the noble game of cricket into disrepute. There is little sympathy in Pakistan for the sorry pass they have come to."
In Lahore, the families of the convicted players were stunned by the sentences. Amir's father said the Pakistan government should have helped his son. His brother, Saleem, said, "He is a kid, he can't understand things. These six months are a lot for a boy who is immature."
Butt's father, Zulfiqar, was more aggressive, saying his son was innocent. "Our own friends conspired against us," he said. "You can check our bank balance, we haven't even been able to build our own house."
Jutice Cook had hard words for Butt. He specifically mentioned Butt's role in involving Amir in the corruption. He said, "An 18 year old from a poverty stricken village background, very different to your own privileged one, who, whilst a very talented bowler, would be inclined to do what his senior players and particularly his captain told him, especially when told there was money in it for him and this was part of the common culture. For an impressionable youngster, not long in the team to stand out against the blandishments of his captain would have been hard."
When it came to Asif, he said, "Whilst no money was found in your possession, it's clear that you conspired to bowl a no-ball. There's no evidence on your part of prior fixing but it's hard to see that this could have been an isolated incident."
Despite the conviction, the judge praised Amir. This was due to him accepting his guilt and a re-assertion of Butt's influence on him and that his only involvement in spot fixing was at Lord's on August 26 and 27 and that he only became involved as a result of pressure and threats to his career.
In this regard he referred to evidence, in the shape of texts and telephone calls with a Pakistani number, of Amir's involvement in discussions about fixing brackets at The Oval during the period of the indictment, though there was no evidence that such fixing actually occurred. That discussion, Justice Cooke noted, did not relate to Majeed.
The evidence in the trial included hidden-camera footage of a sting conducted by the now-defunct newspaper News of the World, in which an undercover journalist met Majeed, who told him he could have Asif and Amir bowl no-balls at specified times during the match. The three were free to return to official cricket once their bans were lifted in September 2015.
After the bans were lifted, both Butt and Asif didn't return to the international stage. The PCB allowed Butt to return to the domestic circuit. Amir did return to the international stage.
On 19 August 2015, Mohammad Amir was declared completely free to play all forms of cricket from 2 September 2015. On 15 January 2016, he made his return to international cricket in a T20i match against New Zealand. He later made his international comeback against England, where he was taunted by English fans chanting, "No Ball!" at him.
On 30 August 2016, against England at Nottingham, Amir scored 58 after coming at no.11 and became the first cricketer to score a half century in ODIs after coming last in the batting order. He was dropped for the next match against England two days later.
He, along with Sarfraz Ahmed, set the record for the highest 8th wicket partnership in ICC Champions Trophy (75*).
He would retire from Test cricket in 2019. He'd played 36 Test matches and took 144 wickets at an average of 30.47.
Alleging ill-treatment from the PCB, Amir announced on 17 December 2020 that he would not be available for selection for his national side anymore. He had cited, "mental torture" by the management as the reason behind his decision and openly criticised the Pakistan team management and coaching staff including Waqar Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq on more than one occasion. He also said that they tried to spoil his image and it took a lot of hard work to build his image. However, Younis denied the allegations and stated he was hurt by the comments.
On 24 March 2024, Amir reversed his decision to retire and after "positive discussions" with the PCB, he made himself available for selection ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled for June that year. In April, he was included in the squad for the T20i home series against New Zealand. In his comeback match, the second T20i of the series played at Rawalpindi, he claimed two wickets in a seven-wicket win.
It's a sad state to see what some athletes will do to earn some extra cash. I see no reason for such acts. Athletes already earn high amounts for their performances. Athletes who do these acts must be desparate for whatever reason. However, if this is the case, they should find ways to earn extra money in a legal manner.