Banned Pakistan cricket Mohammad Asif could soon find himself back on the field, says lawyer Ravi Sukul, who will represent the fast bowler at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland this week.

Asif, as well as Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir, were found guilty in the UK's criminal courts on charges of match fixing in 2011, where they (Asif and Amir) were accused of bowling no-balls in order to alter the game.

But Sukul, based in London, says he will appeal the ban on the grounds that the ICC should have waited for the criminal trial to be over before handing down the five-year ban. He says he is confident he will be able to quash the entire ban for his client.

Sukul told PA Sport: "I will approach the court with an argument that their (the ICC's) procedure was flawed. This will be the basic tenor of what I will say to them.

"I am reasonably optimistic of a favourable outcome in this appeal. The appeal has been launched on a legal basis.

"The ICC were in a position they had never been in before. They had never been a position where a cricketer faced criminal proceedings while they (the ICC) were deciding sanctions for a player.

"They opted to hold proceedings before a criminal trial in the UK.

"On common-sense grounds the fact that it happened here in the UK would give legal procedural precedent over the ICC. The ICC decided off its own back to prosecute."

The lawyer added: "Quashing the ban completely is what I hope the decision will be.

"If CAS do not hold that view then I will argue that it should be reduced, especially after he has spent time in jail. We would hope that Asif could start playing cricket again soon.

"It might take a few weeks to find out their verdict on the matter. That is the usual process for this body."