CASE STUDY 5: The ‘Trusted Insider’

What Happened? In 2009 English domestic player, Mervyn Westfield accepted USD7,500 in cash in return for conceding a set number of runs off an over in a domestic match that was televised nationally, and in parts of Asia. Rumours of the fix and those involved circulated after the match was played, and six months later information was passed to the ECB. Westfield was subsequently arrested by the police.

The investigation by the police and cricket ran in parallel. These investigations established that Westfield had been recruited to conduct the spot-fix by his teammate, Danish Kaneria, a Pakistan player who had been contracted to play in the same domestic side. Kaneria essentially acted as the middle-man between players and the fixer. It transpired that Kaneria, or the ‘trusted insider’ as sometimes referred to, also discussed spot-fixing with other players and there had been rumours of his links to illegal bookmakers. Players were reported to have believed Kaneria was joking and therefore did not report these conversations.

Consequences: The ECB found Westfield guilty of the charge laid against him for his involvement in spot-fixing. He was banned from playing cricket for five years. With respect to the police case, Mervyn Westfield was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to the charge of accepting or obtaining corrupt payments. Kaneria was found guilty on two charges and received a life ban from the ECB, however unlike Westfield, Kaneria did not face a criminal prosecution.