Kaneria appeal 'totally without merit'

An application by Danish Kaneria to have his life ban imposed by the ECB overturned has been dismissed as "totally without merit" by the UK's Court of Appeal.

Kaneria was banned for life by the ECB in 2012 in relation to the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing case. The suspension is applicable globally under any board affiliated to the ICC, although Kaneria, who has repeatedly denied involvement in corruption, has played T20 cricket in the USA.

In May, Kaneria appealed to the UK Commercial Court and was rejected and today a judge in the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal, the Rt Hon Sir Stanley Burnton, threw out Kaneria's latest attempt to have his ban overturned.

He also ruled that Kaneria could not request this decision to be reconsidered and an ECB statement said that "Kaneria has exhausted all the legal options available to him to appeal a life ban imposed for his role in spot-fixing while playing for Essex."

However, ESPNcricinfo understands that Kaneria is still considering other options - possibly involving the European Courts or the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) - although his long-running appeals have been extremely costly and he may not be able to fund any further attempts even if they exist.

An appeal under the ECB's regulations was unsuccessful last year but Kaneria continued to pursue the case through the Commercial Court, a subdivision of the High Court that deals with business disputes. Costs of £100,000 imposed upon Kaneria were also upheld by Justice Hamblen, who ruled that the ECB had not exceeded its powers in imposing the ban.

Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, said: "The ECB welcomes today's decision to dismiss the application by Mr Kaneria to appeal the life ban imposed for his corrupt activity. Mr Kaneria acted as a recruiter of potential 'spot-fixers' and used his seniority and international experience to target and corrupt a young and vulnerable player.

"It is high time that Mr Kaneria came clean about his involvement in these corrupt activities and stopped misleading the Pakistan cricket fans and wider public with his empty protestations of innocence.

"We once again urge him to apologise publicly for his past actions and to start the process of redeeming himself by supporting the Pakistan Cricket Board's anti-corruption initiatives and assisting the police and law enforcement bodies in the Asian subcontinent with the vital job of exposing and cutting off the primary source of cricket corruption."