ECB postpones disciplinary hearing for Kaneria, Westfield – Cricket News Update
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314 and Mervyn Westfield, originally scheduled to be held on May 21, in order to probe the spot-fixing allegations against the two cricketers, has
been adjourned till June this year.
Kaneria and Westfield were first implicated in 2010, with charges brought against the two for spot-fixing during a Pro40 match in September 2009 between Essex and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Durham-c782. Kaneria was later released owing to insufficient evidence, but Westfield was tried
by London's Central Criminal Court in January this year, and sentenced to four months in prison for deliberately conceding a fixed amount of runs during the match in question, for which he accepted a payment of up to 6,000 pounds.
During his trial, Kaneria was once again named in relation to the case, and identified as the middleman who had received 4,000 pounds for facilitating the deal. The leg-spinner, however, denied the allegations, vowing to prove his innocence and clear his
name.
Following Westfield’s release from prison, the ECB summoned the 24-year-old pacer and Kaneria to a disciplinary hearing on May 21, in order to investigate the charges that had been leveled against them, and for breaching the board’s anti-corruption directives.
“Mervyn Westfield and Danish Kaneria have been notified that an ECB disciplinary panel hearing will take place at which charges will be heard relating to their alleged breaches of the ECB's anti-corruption directives,” read a statement released by the board
earlier this year.
“The charges relate to the corrupt activities which led to Mervyn Westfield's criminal conviction in February. The chairman of the ECB's cricket discipline commission, Gerard Elias QC, will chair the hearing.”
In response to the summons, the leg-spinner had hired a legal team (comprising two lawyers from the UK and one from Pakistan) to defend his case, but the hearing has reportedly been postponed at the request of Kaneria’s lawyers.
The 31-year-old has not played for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 team since the scandal came to light in 2010, and is yet to be cleared by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s integrity committee. The hearing is of prime importance for Kaneria, as any bans or sanctions issued by
the ECB will immediately be applicable to all other boards, as per http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 directives.
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