13 Jul 2012

Kaneria to appeal cricket ban

10:32 am on 13 July 2012

The former Pakistani legspinner Danish Kaneria has filed an appeal against his life ban imposed by the English cricket board for spot-fixing.

The 31-year-old was banned from all cricket by a disciplinary committee of the ECB last month after being found guilty of luring Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield to underperform in a 2009 county match.

Westfield, who was jailed in February after admitting he had accepted about $12,000 to play poorly during match against Durham, named Kaneria as the link between bookmakers and players.

Kaneria's lawyer, however, says there is no evidence against his client.

Kaneria took 261 wickets in 61 tests - the most by a Pakistani spinner in all tests - but has not played in international cricket since the 2010 tour of England, which was marred by a spot fixing scandal.