Westfield and Kaneria face ECB charges

Meryvn Westfield and Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria are to face an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) hearing over the corrupt activities that led to the English seamer's imprisonment.

In February, the 23-year-old Westfield became the first county cricketer in England to be prosecuted for spot-fixing and was jailed for four months.

Westfield was convicted on one count of accepting or obtaining a corrupt payment to bowl in a way that would allow the scoring of runs.

In February, London's Old Bailey was told Westfield was paid 6,000 ($9,585) to bowl so that a specific number of runs would be chalked up in the first over of a match between Durham and Essex in September 2009.

It was claimed Westfield was "targeted" by Essex team-mate Kaneria, whom the court was told set up the deal.

Kaneria, who has always pleaded his innocence, had earlier been released without charge by police.

An ECB statement issued Thursday said: "Mervyn Westfield and Danish Kaneria have been notified that an ECB disciplinary panel hearing will take place at which charges will be heard relating to their alleged breaches of the ECB's anti-corruption directives.

"The charges relate to the corrupt activities which led to Mervyn Westfield's criminal conviction in February.

"The chairman of the ECB's Cricket Discipline Commission, Gerard Elias QC, will chair the hearing.

"The ECB will be making no further comment whilst these proceedings are on-going." A board spokesman said a date and venue for the hearing had yet to decided. AFP