Westfield says Danish Kaneria corrupted him

LONDON: Pakistani player Danish Kaneria has been named at an Old Bailey hearing today as the alleged corrupter of Essex Mervyn Westfield.
Westfield has revealed that Kaneria allegedly told him he had a 'friend' who would pay him to concede 12 runs in an over.

Westfield received £6,000 which was for a spot fix and said it was set up by Kaneria.

Westfield claimed in police interview he was approached by Indian or Pakistani man, but he turned down his request to spot fix.

Westfield showed a fellow player "the most money he had ever seen", a court heard today.

Mervyn Westfield, 23, was paid GBP6,000 to bowl so that a specific number of runs would be chalked up in the first over of a match between Durham and Essex in September 2009.

The Old Bailey heard that teammate and former Pakistan player Danish Kaneria told him that a friend would pay him to concede a certain number of runs off his bowling.

Prosecutor Nigel Peters QC told the court that the deal emerged when another Essex player, Tony Palladino, went back to Westfield's Chelmsford flat in September 2009, where the bowler showed him "the most money he had ever seen".

Westfield pleaded guilty last month to one count of accepting or obtaining a corrupt payment to bowl in a way that would allow the scoring of runs.

Kaneria was arrested in connection with the case but later released without charge.

It also emerged Kaneria was warned in 2008 by ICC over his connection with an Indian bookie Aruna Bhati but there was not enough evidence and he was not charged.