PCB agree to cooperate with Kaneria spot-fixing inquiry

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have told Reuters they will cooperate fully with any inquiry after their former leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was linked in an English court to a spot-fixing case. Kaneria was named in court as a go-between in a spot-fixing scandal which led to former English county player Mervyn Westfield being jailed for four months on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_217890” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Kaneria was selected for the last of his 61 tests by the PCB in August 2010. Reuters”]  [/caption] “The PCB will cooperate totally with the ECB (English and Wales Cricket Board) if it holds an inquiry into this matter as it pertains to county cricket,” the PCB’s legal advisor, Tafazzul Rizvi, told Reuters. “It is a serious matter for us and we will now be examining the judgement 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 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. Bowler Westfield, 23, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to being paid 6,000 pounds to give away a set number of runs in the first over of a match between his Essex side and Durham in September 2009. He will serve half his term in prison. The London court heard on Friday that Westfield’s Essex team mate Kaneria told him that a friend would pay him to cheat. 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 told Reuters. 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. Reuters