Pakistan's Danish Kaneria Admits to Fixing Allegations - Reports

Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has finally admitted his role in a fixing scandal that led to the imprisonment of former Essex teammate Mervyn Westfield following six years of denials, as per reports of Britain’s Dialy Mail.

Meanwhile, English cricket chiefs handed a life-ban on Kaneria that effectively applied worldwide. During an interview for an Al Jazeera’s television documentary, Danish Kaneria admitted the two charges of guilty labeled against him. He also apologised to his Essex teammate, his club, and the teammate.

“My name is Danish Kaneria and I admit that I was guilty of the two charges brought against me by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2012,” he said. “I want to apologise to Mervyn Westfield, my Essex team-mates, my Essex cricket club, my Essex cricket fans. I say sorry to Pakistan,” he added.

Westfield spent two months at Belmarsh prison in south-east London after pleading guilty to accepting £6,000 (US$7,862) from an illegal bookmaker, Anu Bhatt, to concede 12 runs in his first over of an English county 40-over game against Durham in 2009. He conceded only ten but still took the money.

Danish Kaneria was the “middle-man” in the scam, having introduced Westfield to Bhatt.

However, he avoided criminal charges when English legal authorities decided they lacked the evidence for a conviction. Kaneria said the fear of embarrassing his father, who died in 2013 and had been suffering from cancer. Danish Kaneria explained part of the reason behind his repeated denials of wrongdoing.

“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. I want to apologise to my father, who has always been a role model for me,” the leg-spinner continues.