Kaneria fails to meet PCB’s demands

Leg-spinner unable to get clearance for international return.

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) remains unsatisfied with Danish Kaneria’s response to their demands as he continues to submit ‘irrelevant information’ and not what the PCB has asked for.

Previously, PCB’s Integrity Committee asked Kaneria to submit a clearance certificate which confirms that he has been cleared by Essex Police without charge. The certificate will also disclose whether allegations against Kaneria regarding match irregularities were dropped or not. However, according to the PCB, Kaneria has resubmitted a letter by the Essex cricket club which only explains that he was released because there was no apparent need for a spinner.

The club replaced Kaneria with South African fast-bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe for the remainder of the season and has neither denied nor accepted that the leg-spinner was excluded due to his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal.

According to the PCB’s legal advisory, the letter is vague and expounded. The board is presently looking for Essex’s verdict on the spot-fixing scandal involving Kaneria but the club is not authorised to issue the clearance, with the authority lying with Essex Police.

“The clearance letter he sent is something he sent to us six months ago,” said a spokesperson for the PCB. “We confirmed with the English cricket board and decided that the document has failed to satisfy the requirements of the PCB.  Therefore, Kaneria has been advised to submit the clearance certificate.”

Kaneria was allegedly involved in a spot-fixing scandal when the Essex police arrested him along with teammate, Mervyn Westfield last year. Both had been suspected of bowling deliberate no-balls but only Westfield was charged.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2011.