“We would urge Mr Kaneria to publicly admit his guilt in this matter”
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Disgraced Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria’s appeal to have his life ban lifted has been rejected by Justice Nicholas Hamblen at the United Kingdom Commercial Court.
Kaneria, whose appeal was unsuccessful last year as well, was banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after being indicted as the mastermind of the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing scandal.
Westfield, who played for Essex, served time in prison for agreeing to concede a certain number of runs in an over during a televised 40-over match against Durham in September 2009.
Westfield also admitted that he was paid £6,000 for committing the offence.
Even though Kaneria was not present during the hearing, Justice Hamblen ordered him to pay £100,000 in costs.
“This judgment re-affirms the previous findings of guilt and recognises that the two Cricket Discipline Commission Panels’ decisions to impose a life ban were proportionate to the seriousness of the offences,” ECB chief executive David Collier said. “It also makes it abundantly clear that there was no error of law or irregularity involved in the disciplinary process.
“This case has now been considered by two different independent panels and an experienced High Court Judge. Today’s decision supports the outcome of the earlier hearings both of which led to a finding that Mr Kaneria acted as a recruiter of spot-fixers and exploited his status as an international player to engage a young county professional, Mervyn Westfield, in corrupt activity.
“Once again, in the light of Justice Hamblen’s ruling today and the overwhelming weight of evidence laid against him, we would urge Mr Kaneria to publicly admit his guilt in this matter, apologise for betraying the trust of his former team-mates at Essex and ask him to co-operate with both ECB and ICC in their ongoing efforts to root out corrupt activities within cricket.”