'Apologetic' Amir vows to redeem tainted past through heroics

Pakistan's disgraced paceman Mohammad Amir has apologised to his fans and players after his five-year ban on spot-fixing came to an end on Wednesday, and vowed to redeem his tainted past through excellent performances.

The tainted trio of Amir, former captain Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, became eligible to return to all forms of cricket from Wednesday. They were banned for their role in the infamous 2010 Lord's spot-fixing scandal.

Amir, who was banned by the ICC at the age of 18, said that he would never be able to explain how much he regrets the mistake he made at the promising start of his career.

The left-armer also said that although he was not sure if he could ever be truly forgiven, he hopes to win over his fans with his upcoming performances, the Dawn reported.

He added that he would strive to start fresh and make a cleaner and brighter history, for himself and for Pakistan.

Amir took 51 wickets in 14 Tests and 25 in 15 one-day internationals before he was handed a five-year ban for bowling deliberate no-balls by pre-arrangement during the fourth test against England at Lord's.

Earlier this year, the ICC had allowed Amir to return early to domestic cricket.