Fixer Aamer freed from jail

London - Teenage fast bowler Mohammad Aamer, one of three Pakistan cricketers jailed in England for spot-fixing, was released on Wednesday halfway through his six-month sentence due to good behaviour, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

The 19-year-old Amir was released from a young offenders' institution in Weymouth, southwest England, the person said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the case publicly.

Amir pleaded guilty before the trial at London's Southwark Crown Court last year.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Asif are still serving their sentences after being convicted of also fixing part of a Test against England at Lord's in August 2010.

Butt was jailed for two-and-a-half years and Asif for one-and-a-half years after they and Aamer ensured no-balls were bowled at specific times.

Agent Mazhar Majeed received the stiffest sentence - 2 years, 8 months - after being secretly filmed by a tabloid journalist accepting £150 000 and saying three players would help fix betting markets.

Majeed was said to be the architect of the betting scam, along with Butt.

All three players are serving five-year bans from cricket imposed by the International Cricket Council

The scam that forced the authorities into launching their most widespread corruption investigation was uncovered by investigators from the now-defunct News of the World tabloid.

Aamer, who had been likened to all-time great Pakistan left-arm fast bowler Wasim Akram, is the youngest player to take 50 wickets in just 14 Test matches.

Trial judge Jeremy Cooke described Aamer as "unsophisticated, uneducated and impressionable" and "readily leant on by others," but said there was evidence that he also discussed rigging an earlier match with a betting contact in Pakistan.