Danish Kaneria's lifetime ban for fixing could be quashed at appeal hearing

[Gabbar Singh]

So Westfield has disappeared - a stroke of luck for Kaneria.

Danish Kaneria’s lifetime ban for fixing could be quashed at his appeal hearing after it emerged Mervyn Westfield, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s star witness in the case, has not responded to requests to appear at the tribunal. A source has described Westfield as “disappearing off the scene” over the past few months as the ECB looks to defend their case against Kaneria, whose appeal hearing is provisionally scheduled to take place on April 22. The hearing was due to be heard before Christmas but was postponed at the last minute. Kaneria’s lawyers have told the Daily Telegraph they will appeal to the High Court to have a deadline set for the hearing if the date in April is moved again. “At the first disciplinary hearing [when Kaneria was banned] Westfield was their star witness and was subjected to cross examination by us,” said Farogh. Naseem, Kaneria’s lawyer. “But that testimony will not be available to the ECB unless they are able to produce him at the appeal so we can cross examine him again. If a witness is not available for cross examination then his evidence is not admissible and without him they have no case. We have nothing against the ECB but by delaying over the last several months they have put this cricketer’s [Kaneria] career in jeopardy.” Related Articles Kaneria was banned for life by the ECB and declared a “danger to cricket” after being named at the Old Bailey as the player who corrupted Essex team-mate Westfield, who was imprisoned for four months last year for accepting money to underperform in a one-day match in 2009. Westfield was banned from cricket for five years but can play club cricket in the final two years of his suspension. That sentence was harsher than expected and without any incentive to cooperate with the authorities, he is believed to have severed his ties with the sport. Initially there had been hopes he would help the Professional Cricketers’ Association in their anti-corruption education programmes. Kaneria was banned by the ECB and not the ICC because his offences occurred in county cricket. All boards have an agreement to respect suspensions handed down by fellow boards and he has been prevented from playing domestic cricket in Pakistan. The ECB declined to comment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cri...l-hearing.html

[Cryin Out Loud]

Great going, England mein bhi witness disappear karwa liya?

[Ambi]

Originally Posted by Cryin Out Loud Great going, England mein bhi witness disappear karwa liya?

I thought it happens only in subcontinent

[Cryin Out Loud]

Originally Posted by Ambi I thought it happens only in subcontinent

Originally Posted by MR__KHAN__JI

Maybe Westfield is "leaving England because get bad msg fr 1 man fr GET LOST OR ELSE TERI TO AISI KI TAISI!!!"

[LegCutter]

Kaneria's got powers!

[Javelin]

Westfield was hoping that the ECB would be lenient towards him for being their star witness in the first hearing. They were'nt. In fact quite the opposite, they were harsher than expected.

Even if he was not already bitter towards them because of that, Westfield has nothing to gain by helping the ECB again, but everything to lose by reminding the world of his misdeeds and jail sentence, and thus being humiliated again in the world's press.

[doctordamor]

Problem is ECB itself, they had no case against Kaneria as police has already ruled there is no sufficient evidence, ECB could have still done the punishment i.e a yr ban and huge fine on kaneria as a deterrant but they went for life ban relying on a guy who admitted to cheating thus inherently unreliable as witness against someone against whom there is no other evidence.

ECB case stated Kaneria introduced westfield to bookie so what? Kaneria didn't hold a gun to head and forced westfield. Life ban was way too harsh.

[Javelin]

If Kaneira wins his appeal, which ECB is delaying and delaying hoping that Westfield can be persuaded to give evidence, then Kaneria's lawyer says they will be seeking 'very large' damages from the ECB.

I guess from Westfield's point of view, he has no incentive to give evidence, and even if he did but Kaneria still won his appeal and sued the ECB for damages, he might be afraid that Kaneria could also go after him for damages?

The ECB cannot, at this stage, offer any incentives to Westfield to give evidence, since, if discovered, they would be accused of bribing a witness.

The ECB are in a fix. They are hoping that the appeal will allow them to use Westfield's evidence from the first hearing even if Westfield refuses to give evidence at the appeal.

[MILLIONAIRE]

I think a deal will be struck between Westfield and ECB in the background somewhere. I think thats exactly what is going on currently in the background.

Believe me Kaneria isnt going to get away with this.

Mark my words!!

[liaqat]

Kanareia might have paid wetfield to stay away, hahaaha

from the looks of it all Danish will walk free with his head held high and ECB will be paying him a his due's
Atleast Kaneria has gone about this the right way for his innocent

[KA$H]

*groan*

why can't Kaneria & his lawyers pursue this quietly through the proper channels, without giving media sound bites every two weeks.

sure he believes he's innocent - go to the high court, get your name cleared, then make all the statements you want

what does this achieve in the meantime? except for reminding us fans of those turgid and sour allegations and events

[Javelin]

Originally Posted by MILLIONAIRE I think a deal will be struck between Westfield and ECB in the background somewhere. I think thats exactly what is going on currently in the background.

And if there is, and Westfield gets cross-examined, he may be asked what has persuaded him to attend when he was previously refusing, ie what has changed his mind?

He could then tell the truth and give details of the deal with the ECB -> Not good for the ECB as it would look like bribing the witness.

or he could lie and say there is no deal, and he's giving testimony 'to clear his concience' ..... sure!

The ECB screwed up when they gave Westfield such a harsh penalty previously. Now it might come back and bite them in the backside.

[Javelin]

Originally Posted by KA$H *groan* why can't Kaneria & his lawyers pursue this quietly through the proper channels, without giving media sound bites every two weeks. sure he believes he's innocent - go to the high court, get your name cleared, then make all the statements you want what does this achieve in the meantime? except for reminding us fans of those turgid and sour allegations and events

He's appealed. The ECB keep putting back the dates of the appeal. Otherwise this would have already been done and dusted, one way or the other.

[Kianig89]

Hope justice is done with danish........already Kami dropped alot of catches on his bowling......otherwise he would had crossed 300

[Eagle_Eye]

Originally Posted by Javelin He's appealed. The ECB keep putting back the dates of the appeal. Otherwise this would have already been done and dusted, one way or the other.

ECB are in a bind, but they cannot keep putting back the dates of the appeal. I am surprised he has not gone to court already.

ECB did not think things through properly

[Fire Bird]

What;s the deal with . Did he actually fixed matcehs or what? Would you actually want him back in the team?

[LegCutter]

Originally Posted by Fire Bird What;s the deal with . Did he actually fixed matcehs or what? Would you actually want him back in the team?

It's pretty clear he had a hand in fixing. Entirely different ordeal proving it in court without Westfield though.

[Javelin]

Originally Posted by Fire Bird What;s the deal with . Did he actually fixed matcehs or what? Would you actually want him back in the team?

That's beside the point.

ECB tried to portray themselves as the disciplinarians. They succeeded in the cases of Asif, Amir and Butt, by persuading the authorities, and the ICC, to go for the maximum punishments possible.

They also tried to set examples with the 5 year ban on Westfield and the life-time ban on Kaneria. Both harsher than expected. Now that tough-man attitude might turn out to be counter productive.

[Fire Bird]

Originally Posted by LegCutter It's pretty clear he had a hand in fixing. Entirely different ordeal proving it in court without Westfield though.

Originally Posted by Javelin That's beside the point. ECB tried to portray themselves as the disciplinarians. They succeeded in the cases of Asif, Amir and Butt, by persuading the authorities, and the ICC, to go for the maximum punishments possible. They also tried to set examples with the 5 year ban on Westfield and the life-time ban on Kaneria. Both harsher than expected. Now that tough-man attitude might turn out to be counter productive.

It seems though that Kaneria may get his ban lifted. So considering he may be eligible to play cricket, do you as a Pak fan feel comfortable with Kaneria playing domestic cricket and possibly in the national squad.

[Black Zero]

shameful stuff by ecb ... (but never expected anything moral from them)...

first they set date of dec..and now april...wth...

hope...dani gets a proper compensation ...

[liaqat]

I feel danny is past his sell by date for international cricket,
but i don't mind him playing in the domestic level or even in happy leagues,

[KA$H]

i dont see any conspiracy here.

Only delaying tatics from the ECB, which isnt commendable or fair, but its indifference, which is similar to the PCB's attitude when dealing with him

having said that, what does continually going to the press achieve for Danish at this stage?

From the little I've read into this case, Danish does come across as dodgy. His "jokes" abt fixing to his team mates are a little hard to swallow.

sure there may be no concrete proof, but there's lots of smoke around this. Bottom line is that his own actions have let him down.

Personally I think his return to the Pak team wouldnt be beneficial, for our image/perception more than anything

having said that I do think he deserves to continue playing cricket at lower levels or be involved in cricket, if he is able to overturn his ban

[LegCutter]

Originally Posted by Fire Bird It seems though that Kaneria may get his ban lifted. So considering he may be eligible to play cricket, do you as a Pak fan feel comfortable with Kaneria playing domestic cricket and possibly in the national squad.

Ofcourse I wont be comfortable with it; but seeing that we have no legal grounds for keeping him out, we cannot deny him a place either. It's a similar scenario to Kamran Akmal, there's no doubt in my mind of Akmal's shadiness but as long as he's not proven guilty by court, then he's fair game.

[ahmedzee]

Originally Posted by liaqat I feel danny is past his sell by date for international cricket, but i don't mind him playing in the domestic level or even in happy leagues,

Leg spinner is more lethal after he crosses age 30, as he knows his strengths and is more wise. Kumble, Warne are prime examples. If Kaneria is cleared and performs in domestic, it won't be a bad choice to have him in the test squad, considering Kami won't be behind the stumps. Don't forget, he is a much better bowler than his stats suggest. So many drop catches and missed stumpings off his bowling by kamran akmal. He could've easily had 300+ wickets.

[Javelin]

Originally Posted by KA$H i dont see any conspiracy here. Only delaying tatics from the ECB, which isnt commendable or fair, but its indifference, which is similar to the PCB's attitude when dealing with him having said that, what does continually going to the press achieve for Danish at this stage? From the little I've read into this case, Danish does come across as dodgy. His "jokes" abt fixing to his team mates are a little hard to swallow. sure there may be no concrete proof, but there's lots of smoke around this. Bottom line is that his own actions have let him down. So Personally I think his return to the Pak team wouldnt be beneficial, for our image/perception more than anything having said that I do think he deserves to continue playing cricket at lower levels or be involved in cricket, if he is able to overturn his ban

For actors, singers, sportsmen and anyone else who makes a living by performing in front of the public or the media, the only thing worse than having a bad press is no press.

As for the rest of what you wrote, that's the whole purpose of an appeal. If an appeal upholds the guilty verdict then he's banned, otherwise he's cleared and should be treated as an innocent.

[KA$H]

Originally Posted by Javelin For actors, singers, sportsmen and anyone else who makes a living by performing in front of the public or the media, the only thing worse than having a bad press is no press. As for the rest of what you wrote, that's the whole purpose of an appeal. If an appeal upholds the guilty verdict then he's banned, otherwise he's cleared and should be treated as an innocent.

thats fair point on both counts. and I admit I've been convinced

plus the point that someone else raised abt how this would be no different to Kamran is also right

if he's cleared he should be legible to play if he is good enough (which he is)

[truefan]

Never thought he had such an impact until I saw his stats...great stats and surely could do with some better keeping...and far ahead of our Bhajji in my opinion...has 5 years cricket left in him and a sure candidate for 400+ wickets....should be a huge boost for pakistan...a leggi is after all a leggi!