Westfield’s non-compliance has been proved to be a real pain for the ECB

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are facing the risk of paying former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria “very substantial damages” after Mervyn Westfield, the main witness against him in the recent spot-fixing trial, continues to refuse to appear at an appeal hearing.

Kaneria, along with Westfield, was found guilty of spot-fixing by the ECB in June 2012 and received a life ban and a fine of £100,000.

Kaneria was also accused of pressuring Westfield into spot-fixing, and he deliberately underperformed in a limited overs match for Essex against Durham in 2009, for which he was paid £6,000.

Westfield testified against Kaneria at his trial.

Under the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, Kaneria’s ban is now worldwide.

The ECB were set to hear Kaneria’s appeal in December, but after Westfield refused to appear, they postponed the hearing to April 22.

With the chances of Westfield appearing getting slimmer by the day, the ECB are hoping the testimony he gave during the first hearing will be enough.

However, Kaneria and his lawyers feel that Westfield should be allowed to make his own decisions and added that the ECB were trying to make him appear since they will “have no case” if he doesn’t.

“The legal principle is this,” Farogh Naseem, Kaneria’s lawyer, told ESPNcricinfo. “If the ECB rely upon a witness, that witness should be available for cross-examination. If he is not, then his evidence can hold no weight. Without him they have no case. Clearly we are taking a different stance on this to the ECB and, ultimately, I expect the matter to be decided by the High Court in London.

“We will definitely seek compensation from the ECB. Not only have the delayed the procedure, but they refused to allow an interim measure until it was decided. Mr Kaneria should have been allowed to continue to play and earn a living while the matter was settled. I don’t want to disclose the figure, but we will seek very substantial damages from the ECB. They have been too harsh and delayed the appeal too long. There is a great level of guilt on the ECB.”

Kaneria is still clinging on to the hope that he has a chance of reviving his international career.

“It will be a victory for the game of cricket when Mr Kaneria is cleared,” Naseem continued. “He is a young man with a promising career ahead of him and he could be utilised by Pakistan and other teams around the world. As a legspinner, he is the master of a dying art and it is in the interest of the game of cricket that he should play.”

Westfield’s non-compliance has been a major headache for the ECB and this may be a result of the fact that they made him serve a four-month prison sentence and banned him for five years, but with the ability to play club cricket again after three.

Naseem stated that Kaneria had no problems with Westfield providing evidence against him, but added that his client wanted the appeal to be held in public.

“All we want is for everyone to tell the truth,” Naseem said. “In the interests of transparency, we would like to have the hearing in public. We do not have anything to hide and, if the ECB if confident they have a strong case, they should have nothing to hide as well. If they are confident in their case, nothing should stop them having it heard. So why have there been so many months of waiting?

“I cannot tell you why Mr Westfield is not willing to appear. Maybe he has guilt issues; maybe he does not. But Mr Westfield should speak the truth.”