Monday 11 July 2016 10:34, UK
Michael Atherton believes that Mohammad Amir deserves a second chance as the Pakistan seamer prepares to return to Test cricket, six years on from the spot-fixing scandal that saw him banned from cricket for five years.
Amir looks set to make Test comeback at Lord's later this month and in an interview with Atherton, he expressed his regret over the incident and his desire to move on from it.
Many feel Amir should have received a more severe punishment but Atherton argues that due to "mitigating factors" in his case, the 24-year-old warrants another opportunity.
"First of all, he made a bad mistake and he deserved some punishment, there is no getting away from that," Atherton told Sky Sports.
"Five years out of the game and going to jail is a pretty heavy punishment - I think it was a six-month sentence of which he served three.
"But I do think there were some mitigating factors and that's why I've had some sympathy for him and why I believe he deserves a second chance."
Atherton explained two extenuating circumstances that, he reasons, would have made a life ban for Amir "unbelievably harsh."
"The first circumstance is the nature of the sting," he said. "It's important to understand that this was not a betting scam, there could be no bets made.
"This was a sting set up to show that players were corruptible. It is perfectly fair to argue, I think, that the newspaper was creating a crime and enticing people into crime, although the justification was that the journalist had been given a tip-off.
"They turned to the youngest and most vulnerable player in that team and put him under pressure to bowl those no-balls. So, I think on those two mitigating factors a ban for life would be unbelievably harsh. A five-year ban - that's fine."
Watch the video above to hear more from Michael, as well as Nasser Hussain, on Amir's return to cricket.
