13 Jan 2012

Former English county cricketer admits fixing charge

8:59 am on 13 January 2012

A former English county cricketer has pleaded guilty to agreeing to take money to bowl badly in a televised match in 2009 in the latest "spot fixing" scandal to hit the sport.

In November, a British court jailed three Pakistani test cricketers for fixing parts of a match in England in 2010.

Mervyn Westfield, who played for Essex, admitted agreeing to allow 12 runs to come off his opening over in a 40-over match against Durham in September 2009 in return for a near 12,000 dollar payment.

In the event, only 10 runs were scored off the over.

The judge says the name of the other party involved in the deal would be known to cricket fans, but it wasn't revealed in court.

The judge warned Westfield that he could be jailed when he's sentenced next month.