ICC urges worldwide Kaneria ban over corruption

ICC board says domestic bodies should recognise and respect the sanctions.

KUALA LUMPUR: Cricket chiefs Wednesday called for a global lifetime ban for Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria after he was punished for his role in an English spot-fixing scandal.

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) board said domestic bodies "should recognise and respect the sanctions... including by enforcing and giving effect to them within their own jurisdictions to the fullest extent permitted by law".

Kaneria was banned for life by English authorities for his involvement in the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing case. The 31-year-old Pakistani has vowed to appeal the sanction.

Westfield was jailed for four months in February, but served two before being released in April, after admitting he accepted £6,000 ($9,346) to under-perform during a Pro40 match between Essex and Durham in 2009.

The now 24-year-old Westfield named Kaneria – arrested with him in 2010 but released without charge – as the link between bookmakers and players.

Westfield was given a five-year ban for bringing cricket into disrepute, a charge the seamer accepted, although he will be able to play club cricket in the final two years of his suspension.

The ICC is wrestling with the problem of spot-fixing, often bowling no-balls to order by bookmakers, at its annual conference in Kuala Lumpur which wraps up on Thursday.

Kaneria has not played for Pakistan since appearing against England in August 2010 – the same tour that saw the infamous fixing episode in the Lord's Test, which led to then-captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir being jailed on corruption charges.

Butt, jailed for 30 months last November on charges of accepting corrupt payments, was freed from an English prison on Thursday.

Amir was released in February after serving half his six-month sentence while Asif, jailed for 12 months, was freed in May.