'Danish Kaneria should've confessed spot-fixing role 6 years back'

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) law advisor Tafzeel Rizvi has said that spinner Danish Kaneriya should have admitted his role in the spot-fixing scandal six years ago.

The advisor further stated that Kaneria should issue an apology to public as well as to the PCB, adding that had he confessed his involvement in the matter earlier, the situation would have been entirely different for him.

"Kaneria should have confessed six years back, now he can't win in the presence of solid evidence. Kaneria did not listen to the PCB. The board spent so much money defending him," Geo TV quoted Rizvi, as saying.

"He should apologise to the public and the cricket board. If Kaneria had confessed earlier it would have benefitted him," he added.

The comment comes after left-arm bowler, in an interview to Al-Jazeera, confessed that he is guilty in a spot-fixing case involving his former Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield.

The bowler not only admitted his role in the fixing scandal but also apologised to Westfield, who was handed a four-month prison sentence for agreeing to concede 12 runs in an over during an ODI match against Durham in 2009.

Kaneria, on the other hand, was given a life ban by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for his role in the scandal.

"My name is Danish Kaneria and I admit that I was guilty of the two charges brought against me by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2012," Kaneria told Al Jazeera.

"I want to apologise to Mervyn Westfield, my Essex team-mates, my Essex cricket club, my Essex cricket fans. I say sorry to Pakistan. If the ECB and ICC and other bodies would give me a second chance I can help to educate young people in cricket, teach them that if you do wrong you are finished like me," he added.

Kaneria has played a total of 61 Test matches, scalping 261 wickets with an economy rate of 3.08 while in 19 ODIs, he has picked up 15 wickets with an economy rate of 4.79.