Salman Butt appeals against spot-fixing sentence

Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, has filed an appeal against his 30-month prison sentence for spot-fixing. Butt's sentence was handed down in Southwark Crown Court in London by Justice Cooke on November 3. A day earlier, a 12-person jury had found him guilty of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat with regard to the Lord's Test against England in August 2010.

Butt's lawyer, Yasin Patel, confirmed to the Associated Press that an appeal had been filed. The appeal is understood to be against the sentence and not the conviction.

In addition to Butt, fast bowler Mohammad Asif was also found guilty on the same two charges, while fellow fast bowler Mohammad Amir pleaded guilty before the trial began. Asif was sent to prison for one year while the 19-year-old Amir will spend six months behind bars for agreeing to bowl no-balls at prearranged times.

The trio will serve half the time in custody and then be released on licence, with conditions which, if broken, would see them back in detention for the remainder of their term. However, Asif's lawyers had said they were considering an appeal against his conviction, which would mean he would walk free from prison should such an appeal be successful.

The agent Mazhar Majeed, who was filmed accepting £150,000 from a reporter from the now defunct News of the World to to arrange the spot-fixing, was given the longest sentence - two years and eight months.

Earlier this year, the ICC banned all three players for at least five years for their roles in the tainted Lord's Test.