Book on Asif to make startling revelations

LONDON: A renowned Pakistani cricket writer is penning a book on convicted former fast bowler Muhammad Asif in which the player is set to make startling revelations and previously unknown facts.

Kamran Abbasi, who is a doctor by profession but has followed and written on cricket for almost 40 years, is writing a blow by blow account on Muhammad Asif’s life as a cricketer but specifically his alleged role in the spot fixing scandal 2010 Lord's Test against England which got him convicted along with fellow players captain Salamn Butt, Muhammd Amir and their agent Mazhar Majeed.

At the Southwark Crown Court Butt was jailed for two and a half years for his role as the "orchestrator" of a plot to bowl deliberate no-balls; Mohammad Amir was given six-month sentence; Mazhar Majeed jailed for two years and eight months and Asif was jailed for 12-month.

Speaking to The News, Kamran Abbasi said: “Asif has a great story to tell. He has been one of the world's best pace bowlers, playing during a fascinating period in the history of Pakistan cricket. It is also a blow by blow account how he was wrongly convicted of spot fixing and the time he spent in an English prison. Asif is determined to prove his innocence and will fight until his name his cleared. He wants to return to the game he loves and overturn this miscarriage of justice. But there is much else to tell of his exciting and incident packed career in cricket.”

Asif served time at the Canterbury Prison in Kent. He has launched an appeal against his conviction and sentence.