ECB files petition to recover fine from Kaneria

The ECB has filed a writ petition in the Sindh High Court to recover the fine from banned legspinner Danish Kaneria , who is based in Karachi. Kaneria was banned from cricket for life and charged £100,000 in costs by an ECB panel in June 2012 for his part in the spot-fixing case involving Mervyn Westfield.

Kaneria said he was unaware of the development. "I have come to know about this only through media and if I get any notice I will consult my lawyers," he told AFP.

A disciplinary panel of the ECB had found Kaneria guilty of corruption - inducing his former team-mate Westfield to underperform - while playing for Essex in a limited-over match in 2009. The panel imposed a fine that covered all the legal expenses in his case until his appeal was rejected.

Kaneria made an appeal hoping to get the sanction reduced, having earlier lost another appeal against the convictions in April 2013. Khawaja Naveed, the lawyer representing the ECB in Pakistan, said the petition demanded that Kaneria pay the fine as well as the costs involved.

"I have filed a petition on behalf of the ECB in which we have demanded that a total cost of £249,000 be recovered from Kaneria," Naveed told AFP. He said the notice would be issued to Kaneria by Saturday and if he failed to pay, the court would be forced to sell his property.

Since Kaneria was banned, he has used almost every forum to try and clear his name. He lost two appeals, however, and until last year had contemplated approaching the Court of Arbitration in Europe. In the meantime, Kaneria can not play recognised cricket anywhere in the world because an agreement among boards affiliated to the ICC made the ECB ban effective throughout world cricket. The PCB, after going through Kaneria's case, endorsed his life ban.

Kaneria was Pakistan's most successful Test spinner and the fourth-highest wicket-taker for his country with 261 wickets in 61 Tests at an average of 34.79, putting him behind only Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan. He picked up 1024 wickets in 206 first-class games at 26.16, including 307 for Essex. His regular Pakistan domestic team Habib Bank Limited, for which he took 231 wickets, had parted ways with him last year.