Obviously it was a mistake on his part; he'd been taken in by the web of corruption that stretched across Pakistani cricket and beyond. He co-operated with shadowy characters outside of cricket and sadly paid the price with prison time. What struck me was how close his relationship had been with the Pakistani captain Salman Butt. Amir told Atherton that he was like an older brother to him when he first started playing for Pakistan. It turned out Butt was the main person that encouraged Amir to get involved with the spot fixing, clearly betraying Amir's trust and disgracing his team and country.
Amir makes it clear he was pretty much tricked into co-operating with the spot fixers and didn't know about the money involved at all until the News of the World broke the story during the test match. From the Sky Sports interview you can really see how young Amir was at the time and still is. Just 18 years old when playing that test match, he had no idea what was going on, getting dragged into a shady underworld by his own captain, friend and confidant. You can tell from the way he speaks to Atherton that at the time he was just a boy enjoying his time in the limelight for taking a 5 wicket haul at Lords and prior to that being the youngest ever bowler to take 50 test match wickets. But this was when he was most vulnerable and I imagine Butt and the fixers knew this.
I have no doubt that Amir was being totally honest with Atherton in the interview. He was emotional but frank in his recounting of the events and it was reassuring to hear that Amir was proud to be playing for his country and was appreciative of what he had. However he also makes clear how vulnerable young players are starting out in professional sport and particularly in Pakistan which seems to be never too far from trouble. But from his own unique point of view he has the ability to warn other young stars about the pitfalls of corruption. I genuinely feel sorry for Amir and what he has been through but I hope he can come back strong after his 5 year ban because there is no doubt he has the talent, it's just whether he can handle the hysteria when that time comes.
