“Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal (left) with his lawyer in Lahore. ©AFP” /> Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal’s three-year ban from cricket for failing to report a match-fixing approach was on Wednesday reduced to 18 months on appeal, meaning he can resume playing in August next year. Former Pakistan supreme court judge and independent adjudicator Faqir Mohammad Khokhar announced the appeal result, which had been reserved two weeks ago, after a short hearing in Lahore attended by Akmal and his lawyer. Akmal pleaded guilty in April to a…