Danish Kaneria's life ban from cricket upheld by London High Court

In another jolt to Danish Kaneria’s chances of returning to professional cricket, the London High Court dismissed the Pakistan leg-spinner’s appeals against his life ban from the sport here today.

Kaneria, who is charged by the England and Wales Cricket Board for encouraging a teammate to under perform during his county stint with Essex, is fighting a hard legal battle to prove what he calls ‘his innocence’.

The ECB had charged Kaneria with inducing anther Essex player to “deliberately concede” runs in a limited-overs game against Durham in 2009 and with bringing disrepute to the game.

An ECB disciplinary panel found that charges had been proved after a hearing in 2012. An appeal panel set up under ECB disciplinary regulations upheld the decision to impose a life ban in 2013

Kaneria took high court action - claiming that the ECB appeal panel had been wrong to uphold the life ban - and wrong to order him to pay the ECB legal costs of 200,000 Pounds.

Justice Hamblen said the appeal panel had not exceeded its powers. He said there were no grounds for suggesting that an error of law had been made.

Kaneria was not at the hearing. A lawyer told the judge that he was in Pakistan.

The ECB took disciplinary action against Kaneria after the former Essex pacer Mervyn Westfield agreed to “spot fix” and was jailed, the court heard.

PTI