Join 24/7 Cricket News For More Updates
David Hopps
January 11, 2012
Mervyn Westfield becomes the first English cricketer to face criminal charges arising from a spot-fixing allegation when he goes on trial at the Old Bailey on Thursday.
Westfield is accused of accepting a corrupt payment and assisting another person to cheat in gambling in events related to Essex's Pro40 tie against Durham in Chester-le-Street in September 2009.
The Old Bailey case takes place to the backdrop of Pakistan's impending Test series against England and the jailing three months ago of three Pakistan players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif after they were found guilty of spot-fixing during a Test against England at The Oval in 2010.
After an investigation by Essex police, it is alleged that Westfield, 23, who was released by Essex the following year "on cricketing grounds," deliberately allowed a stipulated number of runs to be scored off his first over. He conceded 60 runs from seven overs as Durham scored 276 for 6, a target ultimately overhauled by Essex, who won by seven wickets with 19 balls to spare.
The trial, which is expected to last a fortnight, will be heard by Judge Anthony Morris. Westfield, who is accused of accepting corrupt payments in contravention of the 1906 Corruption Act. Westfield has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The indictment says: "Mervyn Westfield, an employee of Essex Cricket Club, between the 1st day of January 2009 and the 16th day of October 2009, corruptly accepted or obtained monies from another for himself, for agreeing to do, or having done an act in relation to Essex Cricket Club's affairs, namely bowling in a manner calculated and intended to allow the scoring of runs in a NatWest Pro40 cricket match."
A second charge under the Gambling Act 2005 alleges that Westfield "bowled in a manner calculated and intended to allow the scoring of runs for the purpose of assisting another person to cheat at gambling" between September 4-9, 2009. Westfield, of Rainham, Essex, is on bail and has been granted legal aid.
The ECB has appointed Chris Watts as information manager to join the anti-corruption, education and security unit chaired by Jane Stichbury, a former chief constable of Dorset. Watts has warned that domestic cricket is potentially open to abuse because it is less heavily scrutinised than international matches.
The MCC's World Cricket Committee this week supported the use of covert operations, "preferably directed at somebody already suspected", by the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACSU) to tackle corruption in cricket.
Bookmark and Share This Post :
0 comments:
Post a Comment