A Pakistani court on Monday summoned cricket authorities to explain why they have not cleared leg-spinner Danish Kaneria to play after he was released without charge in a spot-fixing case. Kaneria and fellow Essex bowler Mervyn Westfield were arrested last year on charges of spot-fixing during a Pro40 match against Durham in 2009. Kaneria was later released without being charged but Westfield faces criminal proceedings.
Kaneria featured in Pakistan’s Test series against England last year but has not been selected since for international matches because he has not been formally cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). His lawyer Farogh Naseem told AFP the PCB has been summoned for July 26, after the 30-year-old went to court last week in a bid to revive his international career. PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said court orders will be followed. “Once we get the orders, we will follow them,” Rizvi told AFP. “Usually such orders seek a reply so we will submit a reply.”
“I have given every document to the PCB but they are not clearing me. I have committed no crime and that’s why Essex police and my county have cleared me in that spot-fixing case,” Kaneria had told AFP.
“My priority is to play for Pakistan but I don’t know for what crime I am being punished by the PCB. Every time they announce a squad and every time they give contracts to players, they say Kaneria is not cleared.”
The wily leg-spinner has taken 261 wickets in 61 Tests, and 15 wickets in 18 one-day internationals. The PCB was forced by the International Cricket Council to form an integrity committee after a separate spot-fixing case in England last year ended in lengthy bans for Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer.
