Pakistan duo found guilty

The jury has found Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif guilty in their spot-fixing trial. Their sentences, along with that of Mohammad Amir, will be pronounced later this week by the judge.

Butt and Asif were found guilty of conspiracy to cheat and conspircacy to accept corrupt payments. Amir pleaded guilty to charges earlier in the week.

“Amir wants to make it clear he wants to take full responsibility for what he did by bowling two deliberate no-balls,” Amir's barrister Ben Emmerson QC said at the pre-trial. “This vulnerable 18-year-old boy, as he was then, was subjected to extreme pressure from those upon whom he should have been able to rely. He recognises the damage he has caused Pakistan cricket and he wishes to do his best to put that right.”

The allegations surround spot-betting in which players deliberately bowled no-balls at specified periods during matches against England in August of last year.

Both Butt and Asif could face jail terms, with the maximum sentence for the acceptance of corrupt payments set at seven years. Conspiracy to cheat carries a maximum two-year sentence.

The players have all been banned from cricket for at least five years by the ICC following a disciplinary hearing in Qatar earlier this year.

Written By:- Chris (About our Authors)
Posted on:- 01/11/2011 - 15:40 PM
Filed in:- Cricket Betting News