Amir’s visa application still in process, says PCB

LAHORE: Delay on visa application of left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir has added to Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) worries about the team’s England tour.

An official of the PCB rejected the reports that Amir’s visa application had been refused. He informed ‘The News’ that his visa application was still in process. 

PCB, which seemed quite positive and hopeful about Amir’s visa, has now reportedly decided to involve Pakistan embassy into the matter.

As per latest reports, all the cricketers who applied via PCB have received their visa but Amir’s visa application has not been answered yet.

PCB is keen to have Amir, who was sentenced to nine-month imprisonment in Britain and banned for five years in 2010, as he bowled extremely well during the tour six years ago.

Solicitor Dr Akbar Malik told ‘Geo News’ that as per immigration rules in the UK, Amir could apply for visa after April 2017. He explained that Amir was convicted and sentenced in November 2011 and sentenced for less than 12 months.

Paragraph 320 of the immigration rules says: “Grounds on which entry clearance or leave to enter the United Kingdom is to be refused: … (2) the fact that the person seeking entry to the United Kingdom: … (d) has been convicted of an offence for which they have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment of less than 12 months, unless a period of 5 years has passed since the end of the sentence.”

Meanwhile, International Cricket Council chief executive David Richardson has said he expects Amir to tour England next month. He said Amir’s return was a “good thing” for the sport. “I always think you get handed out your punishment, you serve it and then who are we to say ‘never again?’,” Richardson told AFP in an interview at The Oval in south London on Wednesday.

“He (Amir) has certainly shown a willingness to make sure he sets an example now by asking younger players to learn from his mistakes.

“Certainly, I think it’s a good thing that he’s back playing,” the 56-year-old former South African wicketkeeper added.  “I’d be surprised if he (Amir) doesn’t end up coming (to England).”