Amir should be treated with leniency, says Mike Brearley

Mike Brearley, the former England captain, belives that Amir fixed the match because he was subjected to pressure and the young man should be treated more leniently.

"We also need to recognise that the pressure put on the young player by criminal bookies or their agents, or by their corrupt team-mates, can be appalling," Brearley said in his Voice of Cricket Lecture at the Raj Singh Dungarpur World Cricket Summit in Mumbai. "As a result, some of those involved might need to be treated with compassion, especially if they admit their guilt and are willing to be enlisted in the battle against corruption. Deterrent and retributive justice tempered with mercy and discrimination is vital in sentencing and punishing.

"I don't think the whole truth has been told yet, or can be told. The 18-year old Mohammad Amir, who was subject to pressure and was, I believe, uninterested in any illegal financial gain, should have been, and I think should now be, treated much more leniently."

The 18-year-old was sentenced to jail for to six months after the allegations to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat were proved. 

 Butt and Asif, jailed for 30 months and 12 months respecively, were found guilty after a 21-day trial but Amir had pleaded guilty before the trial began which played a part in the reduction of his jail term from nine to six months.

Brearley said cheating was cricket's most important issue and called for stakeholders to speak out against it. "Whistleblowing should become an absolute duty for everyone in the game."