Kaneria vows to fight on for Pakistan career

KARACHI: Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria Friday vowed to clear his name over a spot-fixing case in which he was released without charge in Britain, saying he would take his case to higher courts in his home country.

A two-member Sindh high court bench on Thursday dismissed Kaneria's petition against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for refusing to select him since spot-fixing claims emerged in 2010, saying the matter was outside their jurisdiction.

"I'm under a lot of pressure and will seek legal advice on how to go about it," Kaneria told AFP. "We can file the case in the Lahore High Court or Supreme Court after consultation -- it's very stressful."

The 30-year-old Kaneria has not been selected to play for Pakistan since being withdrawn from the squad to face South Africa in October last year.

He was arrested in Britain along with Essex county teammate Mervyn Westfield over allegations of spot-fixing during a Pro40 match against Durham in September 2010, but was released without charge, although Westfield faced criminal proceedings.

But the PCB's integrity committee did not clear Kaneria and instead asked him to produce the transcripts of the Essex police investigation.

Kaneria's lawyer Farogh Naseem said their next move would be decided soon.

"Our petition was dismissed only because the Sindh high court doesn't have the jurisdiction to hear the case," Naseem said.

PCB legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi said the case could be contested in any of the courts.

"If he wants to go to the Supreme Court or Lahore High Court then we will contest. But at the same time PCB has nothing against Kaneria," said Rizvi.

"There are some integrity concerns over the player, just like with Shoaib Malik who cleared his name -- we want all players to clear their names," he added.

Kaneria's case comes after three Pakistan players -- Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- along with their agent were handed prison sentences for fixing during a Lord's Test against England last year.