Kaneria vows to fight on despite setback

Karachi: Pakistan`s banned leg-spinner Danish Kaneria has refused to give up on his efforts to get the life ban imposed on him by the England Cricket Board removed even after a commercial High Court in London dismissed his appeal.

Instead Kaneria challenged the ECB to go public with the evidence against him on the basis of which they imposed the life ban on him way back in 2012. "My lawyers have not got the detailed judgement copy as yet from the commercial court but once we get it we will decide on our future course of action. But I am not beaten or have given up as yet because these charges against me are incorrect," Kaneria told PTI. The leg-spinner further accused the ECB of influencing the London commercial court against him. Kaneria said the decision to dismiss his appeal took almost a year in the commercial court due to the ECB`s undue influence, otherwise the result could have been announced much earlier. "I challenge the ECB to make the evidence against me public so that the world will know whether I`ve committed a crime or not," he said. Kaneria`s strong stance came even after the ECB, soon after the commercial court decision, urged him to admit his guilt and help International Cricket Council in its fight against corruption in cricket. Judge Nicholas Hamblen said yesterday the appeal panel had not exceeded its powers and that there were no grounds to suggest an error of law had been made while dismissing Kaneria`s appeal. "This case has now been considered by two different independent panels and an experienced High Court judge," said ECB chief executive David Collier in an ECB statement. The ECB banned Kaneria in 2012 charging him with encouraging a spot-fixing scam while playing for Essex and influencing teammate, Mervyn Westfield to deliberately bowl badly in a Pro-40 match in September, 2009 after which the inquiry began. An appeals committee of the ECB also dismissed Kaneria`s case in 2013 and ordered the leg-spinner to pay legal costs of 200,000 pounds. "We will continue to explore all possible avenues to clear my name because there the ECB has no evidence against me which warrants a life ban," he said.