Court delays Kaneria's return bid, Malik's prospects bright

Court delays Kaneria's return bid, Malik's prospects bright
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Summary Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria's efforts to revive his career were put on hold.

Court Thursday adjourned his appeal against cricket board’s decision failing to clear him of fixing allegations.Kaneria and fellow Essex bowler Mervyn Westfield were arrested last year on charges of spot-fixing during a Pro40 one-day match against Durham in 2009.Kaneria was later released without being charged but Westfield faces criminal proceedings.The 30-year-old leg spinner appeared before an integrity committee of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday but was not cleared of spot-fixing.Sindh High Court judges adjourned the case until September 27.PCBs legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said the board wanted tapes of the police investigation from Kaneria.For the first time Kanerias counsel has accepted that the tapes exist but they have not submitted these before the court so we have to contact our lawyer in England and try to bring those tapes, Rizvi said.The PCB will follow the courts verdict, Rizvi added.Kanerias lawyer Farogh Naseem said the police tapes are with leg-spinners British lawyer Steve Haurigan.Kaneria, a wily leg-spinner who has taken 261 wickets in 61 Tests -- the most by any Pakistani spinner -- expressed his disappointment at the delay.I am doing my best to clear my name but with the adjournment I have lost chance to play against Zimbabwe next month, Kaneria said. I have not lost heart and will do everything to revive my career.Kaneria was dropped mid-way from the tour of England in August last year and sent home. Two months later he was selected for the series against South Africa but was withdrawn at the last minute.Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik is also awaiting clearance from the committee after suspicions of match-fixing against him. Indications are that his name is likely to be cleared soon, perhaps for the Zimbabwe tour.The PCB was forced by the International Cricket Council to form an integrity committee after a separate spot-fixing case in England last year ended in lengthy bans for Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer. However, the newspaper (News of the World) that broke the story of the scandal itself later turned out to violating ethics by phone tapping of the British MPs, and was forced to shut.

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