London: “I was he was groomed to fix from the age of 18 by Essex's Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who was never put on trial but banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board, said Former Essex pace bowler Mervyn Westfield who spent four months in prison after being found guilty of spot-fixing.
Westfield was jailed in 2012 and banned from professional cricket for five years and club cricket for three for accepting #6,000 ($9,606, 7,124 euros) to concede more than 12 runs in an over in a 40-over match against Durham in September 2009.
He said he knew he made a mistakes but claims “Danish was a very bubbly person and everyone liked him in the dressing room. He got on well with everyone. He was a role model for most people in our team.”
“We were at his house and he asked if he could speak to me outside. That is when he started to first talk about it. He said it is hard for young players to get money in cricket these days. That was how the conversation started.
“They (Kaneria and his associates) said they wanted me to go for 12 runs or more in the first over I bowled. They suggested to me that a few people in the game were doing it as well.
“I felt so confused what was going on. I didn't know if I could talk to anyone or if anyone knew what it was. I didn't know if they would be in the same situation as me.
“I decided to keep it all to myself. The day came when I played against Durham. I bowled my first over, but I did not check the scoreboard to see if I went for 12 or more.”
Westfield, who pleaded guilty to a charge of accepting corrupt payments in a hearing at the Old Bailey in January 2012, now works as a shop assistant in a Tesco supermarket in east London.
Kaneria, who has repeatedly protested his innocence, has had two appeals against his ban and a third looking to reduce the ban rejected.
Last month he filed another appeal in a London court and vowed to carry on his fight.
