After six years of constant denials,  for involvement in match-fixing, the former spinner of Pakistan Danish Kaneria has finally admitted to playing the middle-man. The English cricket chiefs imposed the ban which was applicable worldwide and thus did feature in any club tournaments as well. Now while speaking to Al Jazeera, the spinner admitted the allegations and then was further quoted by the Daily Mail. Kaneria went on to reveal that he was the one who introduced Westfield to Anu Bhatt but avoided criminal charges due to lack of evidence.

“My name is Danish Kaneria and I admit that I was guilty of the two charges brought against me by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2012,” said Danish Kaneria. Since he repents playing a part in match-fixing, Kaneria wants the life ban to be overturned. “I want to apologise to Mervyn Westfield, my Essex team-mates, my Essex cricket club, my Essex cricket fans. I say sorry to Pakistan. Shane Warne Speaks About Attempted Match-Fixing! Reveals Saleem Malik Offered him USD 20,000 to Bowl Badly. 

Westfield spent a couple of months at Belmarsh prison, south-east London after pleading guilty to accepting £6,000 ($7,862) from an illegal bookmaker, Anu Bhatt, to concede 12 runs in his first over of an English county 40-over game against Durham in 2009. Conceding only 10 runs Bhatt accepted the money. Kaneria even apologized to his father who is growing weaker day-by-day. It is said that his father has accepted the apology from Kaneria.

It was in 2010 at Trent Bridge that Kaneria played the last Test match. Kaneria played his last first-class game in 2012 as most of the clubs upheld the ban against him.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 18, 2018 04:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).