Danish Kaneria was banned from English and Welsh domestic cricket for life and described as “a grave danger” to the sport on this day in 2012 following his involvement in a spot-fixing plot.
The Pakistani was found guilty by the England and Wales Cricket Board of “cajoling and pressurising” former Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield into accepting cash in return for trying to concede a set number of runs in an over.
“We regard Danish Kaneria as a grave danger to the game of cricket and we must take every appropriate step to protect our game from his corrupt activities,” the ECB’s disciplinary panel said in a statement.
It concluded that Kaneria acted as a recruiter for Anu Bhatt, who was described in the ECB’s summary as “an Indian businessman who, prior to November 2007, had come to the notice of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit of the International Cricket Council as allegedly being heavily involved in illegal betting”.
Kaneria, who played 61 Tests and remains Pakistan’s fourth-highest Test wicket-taker, put pressure on Westfield “well knowing that he was young and vulnerable” to concede a minimum of 12 runs in his first over at Chester-le-Street in return for £6,000, according to the panel, which also described the evidence given by Kaneria during the four-day hearing in London as “plainly lies”.
He made subsequent appeals against his lifetime ban, but all were dismissed.
