1/ Pakistan cricket has some crazy compelling stories but 73 years in, few match Mohammad Amir’s. 10 years now from the pivotal moment in his life, I’ve tried to tell some of it here, from Changa Bangial to Lord’s, to prison to exile to his return.

2/ I met Amir before the WC last year, which now feels like the beginning of the end, when he spoke about retirement and frustration with his own form and perhaps at not being what we all wanted him to be.

3/ I tracked down Billa Tennis, the greatest tape ball batsman you haven’t heard of. He’s hit 6 6s in an over a gazillion times. Amir was 11-12, in chappals, when he bowled a death over of such precision yorkers to Billa in Changa Bangial it changed his life.

4/ Amir spoke about his time in jail (for the first time I think) and subsequent exile, when for ages he never wanted to play cricket again. I got to meet his lawyers Sajida Malik and Gareth Peirce, extraordinary people themselves, who became his family through this time.

5/ If Amir did nothing else after Lord’s but publicly admit to his crime, he’d stand apart from any Pakistani public figure, let alone cricketer.

6/ In overcoming immense physical and mental obstacles to return after five years of no cricket, he’s almost unique in all sport: Muhammad Ali, Justin Gaitlin, Leontien van Moorsel, who else?

7/ I used to think before this piece that Amir not being able to swing the ball anymore was important. In the big picture of his life, it really isn’t. https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1230522/who-is-the-real-mohammad-amir?appsrc=cricinfo&RuleNumber=1