The Pakistan Cricket Board will go to any length to eradicate the menace of match-fixing from the sport and will fully cooperate in any kind of inquiry in this regard. An official of the PCB said that they are ready to work with the English and Wales Cricket Board in the case of Danish Kaneria.
The PCB has already asked the British authorities for the full judgment and evidence in a spot-fixing case that implicated leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, officials said Saturday. “It is a serious matter for us and we will now be examining the judgment and evidence placed before the court during the trial.” Kaneria was selected for the last of his 61 tests by the PCB in August 2010 before being sidelined from the national team over the spot-fixing scandal.
Since than he has appeared before the board’s integrity committee several times pleading his innocence. Kaneria also took the PCB to the Sindh high court for not clearing him for selection even though he had been cleared by Essex police during the investigation into the spot-fixing scandal. The court rejected his petition on technical grounds. Kaneria’s Essex teammate in England, Mervyn Westfield, was sentenced to four months in prison on Friday after he pleaded guilty to taking money to bowl badly in a 2009 match between Essex and Durham. At the Old Bailey Westfield admitted receiving £6,000 ($9,200) to bowl so that 12 runs would be scored in the first over of the contest, although in the event only 10 were conceded. PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi wad quoted by a foreign news agency that the organisation had to seek evidence or material before it could act against the leg-spinner. “Since Kaneria is a Pakistan player we are obviously looking into the matter with a lot of concern,” Rizvi said. “Since the match was an England domestic match, it’s in the England board’s jurisdiction and we will seek evidence from the concerned authorities. “Kaneria’s case is already with the integrity committee as there were question marks over his integrity. But now there are even more questions and we want to get to the bottom of the truth,” Rizvi said. Kaneria’s brother, Vicky, said they had already instructed their lawyer in London to act to clear the player’s name. “Danish is innocent according to the Essex police after complete investigations. Now that this trial is over we will submit all documents and evidence asked for by the PCB to get his name cleared,” Vicky reported to have said. Vicky said that his brother had been named in an attempt by Westfield to try to reduce his own jail sentence. “Westfield’s testimony about Danish is not creditable as he has changed his statements several times,” he said. Last year a London court sentenced three Pakistani players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, to jail terms for their involvement in a separate spot-fixing scandal. Prosecutors said the player had been lured into the fix after an approach by Kaneria, who was arrested in connection with the case in 2010 but later released without charge. On Saturday Kaneria was captaining Sindh province against Punjab in the Pakistani domestic Pentangular Cup final in Lahore. Kaneria was selected for Pakistan’s series against South Africa in October 2010 but was withdrawn at the last moment when the Integrity Committee did not clear him. He challenged the decision in court but his case was dismissed in November last year.
“The stance of the PCB is one of zero tolerance towards any player with questionable integrity. The judgment of Westfield raised a lot of questions but in law everybody is innocent until proven guilty,” said Rizvi.
The case implicating Kaneria is the latest blow to Pakistani cricket after a spot-fixing scandal on the team’s tour of England in 2010 ended in lengthy bans and jail terms for Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer.
That prompted International Cricket Council to force Pakistan to form an Integrity Committee to check players’ assets and suspicions against them.