Danish Kaneria gets ECB life ban for corrupting Mervyn Westfield

Danish Kaneria has been banned for life from playing in England and Wales after being found guilty of corruption. The Pakistan leg-spinner, 31, encouraged former Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield to spot-fix. Westfield was jailed for four months in February for deliberately bowling badly in a CB40 game against Durham in 2009. The International Cricket Council (ICC) recommended that the ban imposed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) should be implemented worldwide. Pace bowler Westfield, 24, who has since been released from prison, pleaded guilty to the charge of accepting money to underperform. He has been banned for five years but can play club cricket in the final two years of the suspension. Kaneria's ban comes into effect immediately, while Westfield's suspension is backdated to 17 February, when he was sentenced. Neither has played county cricket since 2010. "I will ask the board to remind all members to put in place appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the sanctions imposed on both players in this case are appropriately recognised and respected outside of the ECB's domestic jurisdiction," said ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat. During Westfield's trial, Judge Anthony Morris said the scam had been orchestrated by Kaneria, who spent six seasons at Essex from 2004. But Kaneria, who played 61 Tests and 18 one-day internationals between 2000 and 2010, was never charged by the police on the grounds of insufficient evidence.