Danish Kaneyria Admits His Involvement In Match Fixing
Danish Kaneyria Admits His Involvement In Match Fixing: Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria has admitted his role in the fixing scandal that lead to the imprisonment of an English cricketer after six years.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said that he admits he was guilty of the two charges leveled against him by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2012. He said he intentionally introduced Mervyn Westfield to fixer Anu Bhatt, a scandal that led to Westfield’s imprisonment. They played together on the Essex team.
Kaneria was handed a lifetime ban by the ECB for his role in the scandal. However, he was able to avoid criminal charges because of the lack of evidence for a conviction.
In the interview, he apologised to Westfield, the Essex cricket club, fans and Pakistan.
Kaneria remains Pakistan’s leading spinner with 261 Test wickets. He last played for Pakistan in the Trent Bridge Test of 2010 and has not appeared in any first-class game since March 2012. All major boards are upholding the ECB ban.
He asked for a second chance and said he can help “educate young people in cricket, teach them that if you do wrong you are finished like me”.
Part of the reason why he didn’t admit to the charges is because he didn’t want to embarrass his father, who died in 2013 after battling cancer. Kaneria had repeatedly denied his involvement in the case.
“His health was getting worse and worse,” he recalled. “I didn’t have the courage to face him and tell him that I was wrong. He was a very, very proud guy. Very, very proud of me and what I did, representing Pakistan, representing my country.”
Meanwhile, Westfield told the Daily Mail that he accepted Kaneria’s apology. “This whole chapter of spot-fixing changed my life, but I have never blamed anyone for the terrible mistake I made,” he said.
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