Cricket: Mohammad Amir released from prison

Amir, who was convicted last November for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal, was freed from Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset after completing half of his six-month sentence. Amir, along with team-mates Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, was banned for a minimum of five years by the International Cricket Council in February last year. Asif and Butt, serving one year and two and a half years respectively, both remain behind bars. The 19-year-old will spend three weeks in London before returning to Pakistan. He will hold a series of meetings with his lawyers to finalise an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the five-year ban imposed on him by the International Cricket Council. The talented left-arm bowler had taken 51 wickets in 14 Tests before his career was brought to an abrupt halt, but Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf has left the door open for him to eventually return to international cricket. "Whenever he is cleared by the International Cricket Council and serves his punishment, we think he needs intense counselling and then the selectors can decide about him," Ashraf said last month. "As far as his playing again is concerned that is for the selectors to decide because there is no doubt about his immense talent and he is still very young." Pakistan s Test team has fared well in Amir s absence, with Misbah Ul-Haq leading the squad to a series victory over England in the United Arab Emirates.