ICC deny clearing Pakistan spinner Kaneria

The International Cricket Council on Monday denied it had cleared Pakistan's Danish Kaneria to play, after he was implicated in a spot-fixing trial that saw a former English county cricket jailed for four months. Prosecutors in the case, which culminated last week, told the Central Criminal Court in London that ex-Essex paceman Mervyn Westfield had been lured into the illegal scam after an approach by Kaneria. The leg spinner denies the claim and has said the ICC had cleared him to play, as had the England and Wales Cricket Board and Pakistan Cricket Board. But the ICC said in a statement that all three governing bodies "can categorically deny that such a clearance certificate was ever issued". "The PCB stated that, following the Westfield judgement, Kaneria will again be called to appear before the Integrity Committee to explain his position," it added. His clearance was "pending" and the player had been asked to provide copies of the tapes of his police interview in Britain, it added. Westfield was jailed for taking 6,000 pounds ($9,200) for deliberately bowling badly in Essex's 40-over match against Durham in September 2009. He pleaded guilty to the charge in January and was sentenced on Friday.