Chris Lewis, the former England allrounder, has been released from prison after serving six years for drug smuggling.

Lewis, 47, was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment in May 2009 for smuggling liquid cocaine valued at more than £140,000 into Britain hidden in fruit juice tins in his cricket bag. He was stopped at Gatwick airport after a flight from St Lucia the previous December.

A former basketball player, Chad Kirnon, was also found guilty.

"On a physical level jail has not been hard," Lewis said after his release from High Down Prison in Surrey. "It's a hard mental exercise to stop yourself from thinking negatively. For 24 hours a day you're a prisoner. It's nice to be back - and I don't mean being outside - I mean back being me."

Far from excluding Lewis from its midst, English cricket is considering plans to work with him to educate young players. Lewis could address young professionals at the Professional Cricketers' Association's Rookie Camp next year to warn them about his experience.

This would be the latest example of the PCA's willingness to rehabilitate former cricketers who have committed a crime by involving them in education processes. Mervyn Westfield, who was found guilty of spot fixing, has also addressed young professionals about the dangers.

Lewis, born in Guyana, retired from county cricket in 2000 after playing 32 Tests and 53 ODIs. He last played first-class cricket the summer before his arrest when he attempted a Twenty20 comeback with Surrey.

As his career drew to a close, he made revelations in the News of the World about spot-fixing within the England Test team, also claiming that he been offered money on behalf of Indian bookmakers to help fix an England vs New Zealand match at Old Trafford. He was not in the side at the time.
(espncricinfo)