Jail for fixers Butt, Asif; Amir detained

London: Salman Butt has been jailed for two and a half years and Mohammad Asif for one year, while Mohammad Amir will be detained for six months for their role in a conspiracy to cheat and to obtain and accept corrupt payments related to the Lord's Test against England in August 2010.

Justice Cooke had originally sentenced Amir, 19, to 6 months' imprisonment but had to revise the term to 6 months of detainment at a juvenile offenders' institution. The sports agent Mazhar Majeed was given a two-year-eight-month sentence in prison.

Dressed in suits, the tainted trio sat silently in front of Justice Cooke as he read out his lengthy remarks.

"The image and integrity of what was once a game but is now a business has been damaged in the eyes of all. You have let down all supporters of the game." said Justice Cooke.

"Your motive was greed, despite the legitimate rewards on offer in salaries and prize money. Now, when people look back at a surprising event in a game or a surprising result or ever in the future there are surprising results, followers of the game who have paid to watch cricket or who have watched cricket on TV will wonder whether there has been a fix or what they have watched was natural."

While delivering the sentences, Justice Cooke told the guilty that he had kept in mind their individual bans from the International Cricket Council.

Butt has been given a 10-year ban, five years of which are suspended. Asif has been banned for seven years, two of which are suspended, while Amir has been banned for five years.

Addressing Butt, Justice Cooke said: "You orchestrated this as captain. You were a man of status. You bear (the) major responsibility for this." He also added that based on evidence Butt had been involved in fixing before the Lord's Test but that he had only been punished for his role in that match.

To Amir, Justice Cooke was more lenient and said it "took courage" to plead guilty. However, he refused to accept the basis for Amir's plea that his role in the Lord's Test was a one-off or that he had been pressured into doing so.

As for Majeed, Justice Cooke refused to accept his basis for pleading for leniency in the quantum of punishment and said it was evident that Majeed was involved in fixing apart from with the undercover agent from the News of the World who blew the whistle.

"You took the lion's share of spoils," ruled Justice Cooke. Majeed would have been jailed for four years had he not confessed.

Butt, Asif and Amir had all offered closing submissions via their lawyers on Wednesday.

source: cricketnext.com