Aamer blamed Salman for spot-fixing scandal
KARACHI: Just a couple of days after spot-fixing allegations were levelled at him and two other Pakistan players, a teary-eyed Mohammad Aamer went to the team management and spilled the beans on Salman Butt Pakistans Test captain.
Sources said on Saturday that the 18-year-old fast bowler told team manager Yawar Saeed and Shahid Afridi, Pakistans one-day captain, that he was innocent and just got involved in the scandal because of Salman Butt.
According to the sources, some of Pakistans senior players saw Aamer meeting with Afridi. The allrounder later took the youngster to Yawar Saeed and three discussed the issue for some time at the team hotel.
Aamer told the team management that he wasnt aware of the gravity of the situation and also claimed that he just followed Butts instructions, said a well-placed source.
Butt, Aamer and another Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) early this month after a British newspaper accused them of accepting bribes from match-fixers.
News Of The World alleged that Asif and Aamer bowled deliberate no-balls during the fourth Test against England at Lords on the orders of match-fixers. British Police briefly arrested player agent Mazhar Majeed, the man at the centre of the scandal.
The trio were questioned by Scotland Yard detectives, who also interview rookie pacer Wahab Riaz later. The players insist they are innocent.
Sources said that Aamer told Afridi and Yawar that he didnt even know Mazhar Majeed and was introduced to him by Salman Butt.
Amir told Afridi as well as the team manager that he was completely unaware of what was going on. He asked them to help him get out of the mess, said the source.
Amir, regarded among worlds best fast bowlers, has received a lot of sympathy from various quarters since the scandal broke almost a month ago.
Several former Test cricketers from around the world have urged the ICC to show leniency to the teenager, who is young and uneducated.
Former greats like Englands Michael Atherton, West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding, Australias Geoff Lawson, Pakistans Ramiz Raja and many others have urged the authorities to somehow save Amirs international career.
Whilst I accept, if guilty, there can be no way back for Salman Butt, the captain, or Mohammad Asif, a cricketer who has enjoyed more lives than a cat, I hope the authorities can find a way to give Aamer a second chance. He is a victim in this episode, wrote Atherton, in one of his articles earlier this month.
