04 June,2009 08:09 AM IST | | Agencies
The Professional Cricketers Association have vowed to stand by former England bowler Chris Lewis after he was given a 13-year jail sentence for smuggling cocaine.
Lewis, 41, was last month found guilty of smuggling more than u00a3140,000 worth of cocaine into Britain inside his cricket bag. The chief executive of the PCA, Sean Morris, said the organisation will offer its support to Lewis, who played county cricket for Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey.
Morris told the July issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine: "It is very clear that the transition from professional sport into another life is very, very difficult, especially for cricketers. The time you spend in a very close community is unlike other sports. The narrow margin between success and failure is also unlike other sports - you nick the first ball and that's it. So you have very low lows."
