Summary Cook feels the 24-year-old will have to deal with the crowd voicing their opinions.
(Web Desk) - England Test captain Alastair Cook has clearly warned left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir to expect an abusive reception from fans when he takes to the pitch at Lord’s for first Test on July 14, The Guardian reported on Monday.
Amir is set to make his Test comeback at the venue where his bowling of deliberate no-balls in 2010 earned him a five-year ban after he pleaded guilty to spot-fixing.
Cook feels the 24-year-old will have to deal with the crowd voicing their opinions when play gets under way next week.
“I’m sure there will be a reaction and that is right,” said Cook. “That is part and parcel, that when you do something like that there are more consequences than just the punishment. That is something for him to cope with, whatever comes his way.
“There is always a sideshow and a story running in the media. Whatever Test match you are playing in there is always something off the field, whether it is political or something like this. It won’t affect us as a side, we will concentrate on what we can concentrate on. The media will ask questions about it but it will not affect us.”
Cook, who has time and again called for ‘spot-fixers’ to be slapped with lifelong bans, believes it is only right that Amir is allowed a chance to rebuild his Test career. “It was very different then – match-fixers didn’t get caught,” he said.
“Amir’s case was the first big one in England, we had others, but this was the first in the modern era. Whether I agreed or disagreed with the punishment, he got it, served his time and he is absolutely right to come back.”
Pakistan’s England tour includes four Tests, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20, while the first Test would start on July 14 at Lord’s cricket ground.
