'Kaneria was a go-between in spot-fixing'

Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria was named in court on Friday as a go-between in a spot-fixing case where former English county player Mervyn Westfield was jailed for four months.

Bowler Westfield, 23, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to being paid 6,000 pounds ($9,400) 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 that Westfield’s Essex team-mate Kaneria told him that a friend would pay him to cheat, Britain’s Press Association reported.
Mark Milliken-Smith, lawyer for Westfield, told the court: “It is clear, we submit, that Kaneria and his associates targeted Westfield.

“Westfield was on the verge of the squad, more susceptible for that reason; less likely perhaps to be able to say no to the club’s international star, his future with the club uncertain."
The court was told other Essex players heard Kaneria talking about spot-fixing while Milliken-Smith told the court a ‘blind eye’ was turned to the rumours.

Leg-break bowler Kaneria, who played 61 Tests and 18 one-day internationals for Pakistan between 2000 and 2010, was arrested in connection with the case but later released without charge.