Kaneria appeal set for April

The ECB has set April 22 as the date to hear Danish Kaneria's appeal against the lifetime ban for involvement in fixing handed down to him by a disciplinary panel last year. A first hearing was adjourned in December after initial legal submissions.

Kaneria, who has been in London since December, is appealing against the ban, along with the £100,000 costs that were imposed on him. Despite being found guilty of corruption in relation to the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing case, Kaneria has continued to deny his involvement and previously called for the appeal to be heard in front of an independent panel.

The legspinner was barred from playing for the Pakistan national side in 2010 and the PCB has said that it would stand by the sanctions imposed by the England board, as the ICC's anti-corruption code mandates. Kaneria's ban from all cricket currently stands, pending the appeal result, and he has not played since March 2012.

Kaneria is Pakistan's leading Test spinner, with 261 wickets, and fourth-highest wicket-taker overall. He spent several successful seasons with Essex but was arrested in 2010, along with team-mate Westfield. Although no police charges were brought against Kaneria, he was found guilty by the ECB panel of inducing Westfield to under-perform in a 2009 limited-overs match and of bringing the game into disrepute.

Westfield was jailed for four months for his part in agreeing to concede a set number of runs in an over during a CB40 match against Durham, in return for £6000. He was also banned for five years by the ECB, but can play club cricket after three.