22 Jun 2012

Spot fixer returns to Pakistan after serving sentence

3:00 pm on 22 June 2012

Pakistan's disgraced former cricket captain Salman Butt has returned home to a chaotic welcome after being released from a British prison, vowing to clear his name after being jailed for spot-fixing.

The 27-year-old was imprisoned for 30 months in November on charges of accepting corrupt payments during the Lord's Test against England in August 2010.

Butt, team-mates Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, and agent Mazhar Majeed were accused of arranging deliberate no-balls in return for money.

Aamer was released in February after serving half his six-month sentence while Asif, jailed for 12 months, was freed in May.

Around 200 fans including Butt's father Zulfiqar gathered at Lahore's international airport as Butt made his way through the airport.

An angry Butt shouted for space before leaving but he returned 10 minutes later to talk to the media, vowing to clear his name from the spot-fixing charges that derailed his career.

The three Pakistan players were banned for at least five years by the International Cricket Council, which has ordered the Pakistan Cricket Board to rehabilitate the former stars.