All posts by h716a5.icu

Opener Ruvindu Gunasekera’s fifty and unbeaten hundred in consecutive innings, and a collective bowling performance, saw Canada win the two-day Auty Cup match against the United States on the basis of a first-innings lead.

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2013
ScorecardRuvindu Gunasekera put up strong performances in both innings for Canada, scoring 72 and an unbeaten 100•Canadian Cricket AssociationOpener Ruvindu Gunasekera’s fifty and unbeaten hundred in consecutive innings, as well as a collective bowling performance, helped Canada win the two-day Auty Cup match against the United States on the basis of a first-innings lead.Canada, chosing to bat, made a strong start with a 105-run opening stand between Gunasekera and wicketkeeper Trevin Bastiampillai. However, once left-arm spinner Ryan Corns broke the partnership, Canada lost regular wickets and were eventually dismissed for 228. Gunasekera top-scored with a 164-ball 72, which included six fours, while Bastiampillai made 55 off 91 deliveries. USA captain and legspinner Timil Patel took four wickets for 66 runs, while Corns ended with 3 for 21.USA made a poor start to their innings, losing openers Steven Taylor and Alan Dodson for just 28 runs in 11 overs. But a 79-run, fourth-wicket stand between Ravi Timbawala and Karan Ganesh stabilised the innings, before Ganesh fell for 35 to left-arm spinner Salman Nazar. From there on, USA slumped from a stable 134 for 3, to 183 all out. Nazar and medium-pacer Harvir Baidwan picked up three wickets each, as USA conceded a 45-run lead.Canada’s batsmen played freely in the second innings, scoring at more than five runs an over. Gunasekera led the way again, scoring an unbeaten 93-ball 100, which included 11 fours and three sixes.The two teams will play a 50-over match on July 27, as well as two Twenty20 matches on July 28.

When you face an asking rate of 15, you have no choice but to back yourself and go for your shots. That’s what Kieron Pollard was thinking when he launched his brutal attack against the Sunrisers Hyderabad

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2013When you face an asking rate of 15, you have no choice but to back yourself and go for your shots. That’s what Kieron Pollard was thinking when he launched his brutal attack against the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers in the final four overs of the chase at the Wankhede, helping his team to a seven-wicket win and the top of the points table.”The situation dictates itself when you walk in to bat [with the required rate] at 13 runs an over and if you block two balls, it gets up to 15 in no time,” Pollard was quoted as saying by , after the game. “It is a matter of backing yourself, the situation dictates itself and you have to play each ball on its merit and back your ability to clear the boundaries. Actually choose which bowler you want to hit, and capitalise.”Mumbai Indians needed 62 off 24 balls when Pollard and Rohit Sharma – who finished not out too, with 20 off 15 – took 29 runs of a Thisara Perera over. That was followed by 21 runs off Amit Mishra’s legspin in the 18th and, though Dale Steyn produced a very tight 19th over, with just a run-a-ball required off the final two Mumbai Indians were in control.Pollard’s unbeaten 66 off 27 is made all the more significant by the fact that he was recovering from a bout of the flu. “I am still sniffling a bit. I missed the game against Pune, the flu,” he said. “I came for practice yesterday, I was striking the ball pretty well. So once you are able to move and able to bat … I thought I was fit enough to play. The management decided obviously. We knew how important the game was and that was it.”Mumbai Indians coach John Wright said Pollard’s was an “amazing feat”. “What an amazing feat of hitting. I have never seen anything like that before,” Wright told the IPL site. “We were always up against it in the run chase. And they got those wickets [of Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu] immediately after Sachin retired, so we didn’t look like we were going to be winning the game but then that’s what a player like Pollard can do. That’s special.”Wright was also all praise for Rohit’s captaincy. “He has stepped into the captaincy role and he looks the part. It is very early days yet but I think he is going to be a very good leader,” he said. “We all contribute in our various ways but Rohit has taken to the job. He seems to be suited and the responsibility sits well with him – that shows through his performances with the bat and some of the decision-making on the field.”Rohit was named stand-in captain for Mumbai Indians a couple of weeks into their campaign, following Ricky Ponting’s poor form with the bat. Since he took over, Mumbai Indians have won seven off eight games. Rohit is the team’s leading run-scorer after 14 games, with 487 runs at 54.11 and a strike rate of 140.34.

Mervyn Westfield has endured a third day in the witness box as Danish Kaneria’s appeal against a lifetime ban from the game continues

George Dobell24-Apr-2013Mervyn Westfield has endured a third day in the witness box as Danish Kaneria’s appeal against a lifetime ban from the game continues.Westfield, a hostile witness forced to attend the hearing after the ECB obtained a High Court summons, spent much of Monday giving evidence and was then cross-examined by Kaneria’s legal team on Tuesday and Wednesday.Westfield’s testimony was key when Kaneria was banned for life and charged £100,000 in costs by an ECB disciplinary panel in June 2012 for his part in the spot-fixing case involving. Kaneria had been found guilty of inducing Westfield, his former Essex team-mate, to underperform in a limited-overs game in 2009 and of bringing the game into disrepute. Westfield was jailed for his role in the case.ESPNcricinfo understands that Tony Palladino, a former Essex team-mate of Kaneria and Westfield, has been one of the other witnesses before appearing in the current round of Championship games. It was Palladino, now with Derbyshire, who provided the crucial evidence that led to the conviction and imprisonment of Westfield.The verdict of the appeal is expected late on Thursday or on Friday.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second Test between West Indies and Zimbabwe in Roseau

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit19-Mar-2013Match factsMarch 20-24, Roseau
Start time 1000 (1400 GMT)
How will Zimbabwe tackle the threat of Shane Shillingford?•WICB Media Photo/Randy BrooksBig PictureThe Barbados Test between West Indies and Zimbabwe lasted just over seven sessions, with the hosts winning by nine wickets a few minutes after a forced lunch break on day three. If you didn’t see the game, you would find it hard to believe that Zimbabwe dominated at least two sessions, and even had a reasonable shot at taking a first-innings lead. They had West Indies 151 for 6 after making 211, and it needed a game-changing knock from Darren Sammy at No. 8 to suppress Zimbabwe.The visitors were competitive with the ball, barring the expensive legspinner Graeme Cremer, who was targeted by Sammy and Marlon Samuels. It is their capitulation with the bat in both innings that will bother Zimbabwe. They were 100 for 2 before collapsing to 211 in the first innings, and lasted 41.4 overs in the second, making 107. An apparent inability to survive even straightforward offbreaks from Shane Shillingford and Samuels led to Zimbabwe losing as many as 13 wickets to spin, nine of them to Shillingford alone.In the previous Test played at Roseau’s Windsor Park, the venue for the second Test, spinners claimed 26 of the 40 wickets Australia and West Indies lost. Shillingford himself picked up a match haul of ten, Nathan Lyon followed with seven, and even Michael Clarke’s part-time slow left-arm fetched him a five-for. Those figures show Zimbabwe have their work cut out, especially with Sammy saying the pitch for this match looked similar to the one on which his side had played Australia.West Indies may be on their longest winning streak since 1988, but they will have reflected on their position in Barbados before Sammy bailed them out. Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, of all people, were guilty of throwing away starts. The opening partnership between Chris Gayle and Kieran Powell began with a 254-run stand against New Zealand in July 2012, but hasn’t produced anything of note since then. A deflated Zimbabwe side, who have lost all internationals on this tour, could be a soft target for the West Indies batsmen to make amends.Form guideWest Indies: WWWWW (Completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe: LLLLW
Players to watchThe West Indies fast bowlers were a handful in Barbados, hitting the Zimbabwe batsmen several times with short deliveries. To their credit, the visitors did not back away but the quicks could easily have taken more than the seven wickets they managed between the three of them. Whether all three of them play in Roseau or not, they will come hard at Zimbabwe once again.The tourists’ captain Brendan Taylor has had scores on this trip of 8, 0 & 39 in the ODIs, 0 & 4 in the Twenty20s, 20 & 20 in the three-day tour match, and 26 & 6 in the Barbados Test. On the rare occasion he’s got off to a start, he has not been able to convert it into anything substantial. The way he fell to Shillingford in the second innings in Barbados, stepping out early on, stopping midway, and nudging to forward short leg, showed confusion. He has one last chance to salvage something from a horror tour.Team newsBarring injuries, the only decision for West Indies to make would be whether to include an additional spinner at the expense of the third fast bowler.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 and 9 Shannon Gabriel/Tino Best/Veerasammy Permaul, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Shane ShillingfordWill Zimbabwe persist with Cremer? Or will they bring in the steadier offspin of Prosper Utseya, with so many left-handers in the West Indies top six? Will they tinker with the batting?Zimbabwe (possible) 1 Tino Mawoyo, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Hamilton Masakadza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt), 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Malcolm Waller/Sean Williams, 7 Regis Chakabva (wk), 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Ray Price, 10 Kyle Jarvis, 11 Tendai ChataraStats and trivia This will be the third Test to be played at Windsor Park In the last two years, West Indies have had only five fifty-plus opening partnershipsQuotes

Michael Clarke departed for India with the palpable sense that he is embarking upon the most difficult task of his captaincy so far

Daniel Brettig12-Feb-2013Haywire scheduling, key retirements and a stubbornly stiff right hamstring. Even before the vagaries of the subcontinent could be considered, Michael Clarke departed for India with the palpable sense that he is embarking upon the most difficult task of his captaincy so far.Clarke was at pains to keep his selection options as open as possible before setting off to join the squad assembling in Chennai. The loss of Michael Hussey so soon after Ricky Ponting and the redefinition of Shane Watson have left the batting in particular with a whiff of the uncertain.Add to this Clarke’s hamstring trouble, which may yet rule him out of the full squad’s only warm-up match, and there was every reason to believe the captain’s pronouncement that he has not stared down a greater challenge than those to come over the four Tests.For a reminder of the difficulty, Clarke needed only to look back at the 2010 visit, a tour hurriedly upgraded from ODIs to Tests by the BCCI and finishing in a 2-0 defeat for the team then captained by Ponting. Clarke cobbled 35 runs in four innings, his torpor summed up by a Bangalore stumping in which he did not realise his foot had dragged beyond the crease line.”Touring India is as tough a challenge as I’ve had in my career,” Clarke said in Sydney. “Every time I’ve been there on a Test tour it’s been extremely difficult, hence the Australian team hasn’t won that much over there. So it’s a huge challenge, the players know that.”That’s partly why we’re trying to prepare as well as we can by sending players early to get them used to conditions, to give ourselves the best chance. We know it’s going to be tough, we know how good India is, but we look forward to it.”The Australian team’s calendar for 2013 is so congested that this tour is the first to start before the home international program had finished. While Clarke is somewhere in the air between Sydney and Chennai, 11 members of his squad will be commencing a two-day warm-up match.After Clarke has arrived, the coach Mickey Arthur will still be minding a severely weakened Twenty20 team in a match against the West Indies in Brisbane. Given the jarring adjustment from Australian climes and surfaces to those that may be found in India, it is hardly the ideal way to prepare. And preparation has always been one of Clarke’s favourite buzzwords.”What I’ve learned in the past is how important preparation is for my personal performance,” Clarke said when asked about his dire 2010 tour. “I need to make sure I’ve done all my training to give myself the best chance of scoring runs.”That’s what I’m looking forward to over the next few days. Getting into the Indian conditions, batting on those wickets, facing a lot of reverse swing, a lot of spin bowling, and making sure when that first ball’s bowled in that first Test that I’ll be as well prepared as I was for this summer.”I’d really like to play that three-dayer. I’ll be advised by Alex [Kountouris] the physio once I land in India but at this stage my plan is to play that three-dayer. There is so much time I don’t think there is any doubt I’ll be fit for the first Test.”In my mind cricket-wise I feel like I need that game to spend some time in the middle in Indian conditions both batting and bowling, but also with my captaincy as well because India is such a different place to Australia. But I’ll listen to the expert and see what he has to say.”Among the players who have a headstart on Clarke by way of acclimatisation time are the allrounders Glenn Maxwell and Moises Henriques, plus the young batsman and sometime legspinner Steve Smith. One of the trio is likely to be chosen in the Tests as No. 6 or 7 batsman and fifth bowling option, now Watson can no longer provide it.”It’s very open, hence we’ve sent 17 players in three different stages to get over there as soon as possible to prepare and get used to conditions,” Clarke said. “Runs and wickets will certainly play a big part in these practice games leading up to the first Test but for a lot of guys it’s more about preparation and seeing conditions.”Those conditions will vary, as will the range of questions posed by an Indian side stung by recent defeats and intent on demonstrating, in the words of Harbhajan Singh, “how we play cricket here”. Clarke’s leadership, as both batsman and captain, is about to face its sternest examination yet.

Karbonn Mobiles has become the third telecom company to sponsor the Champions League Twenty20 in four years

Tariq Engineer07-Aug-2012Karbonn Mobiles has become the third telecom company to sponsor the Champions League Twenty20 in four years, having signed a deal today with ESPNSTAR Sports (ESS), the event’s commercial and broadcast partner. Karbonn replaces Nokia, who withdrew their sponsorship after just one year.Nokia had replaced Bharti Airtel, the tournaments inaugural sponsors, in 2011. Airtel had signed a five-year deal worth $40 million reportedly to sponsor the event in 2009, but withdrew its sponsorship two years into the deal. ESS paid nearly $1 billion in 2008 for the 10-year-broadcasting rights for the tournament.The deal gives Karbonn the “rights to on ground title sponsorship with all its entitlements,” and the tournament has been rechristened the Karbonn Champions League Twenty20, according to a statement from ESS. Pradeep Jain, the managing director of Karbonn, said the tournament should help the company break through the clutter of advertisers and products and create the “right visibility amongst our target audience”.The revolving door of title sponsors highlights the troubled start the CLT20 has had, in contrast to the IPL. The event’s scheduled first season in 2008 was cancelled because of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November that year. When the tournament did make its belated debut as a 12-team event in 2009, it was hurt by a more nagging problem – fans in India, cricket’s largest market, showed little interest in non-IPL teams. That year the CLT20 drew an average television ratings point (TRP) of 1.06 (one TRP represents 1% of viewers in the surveyed area in a given minute), compared to an average TRP of 4.1 for the 2009 IPL, according to TAM Sports, a division of TAM Media Research, a television ratings agency.In an effort to boost viewership, the number of IPL teams in the tournament has been increased from two to four over the years. In the first year, only the two IPL finalists qualified for the world’s richest club cricket tournament. This year, all four teams that made the IPL playoffs were given direct entry to the main draw. The CLT20 also added a qualifying tournament last season. While viewership has increased with the changes, the average TRPs are still below 2. In comparison, the IPL has delivered ratings of at least 3.45 in each of its five seasons.The fourth edition of the CLT20 will be played across four venues in South Africa: Centurion, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Eight teams have already qualified for the main tournament, while a further six teams will complete in the qualifying stage from October 9 to October 11. The top two teams from the qualifiers – one from each group of three – will then join the other eight in the main tournament, which begins on October 13.

Narsingh Deonarine’s aggressive century put West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI in a strong position after the second day of the three-day tour game

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2012
ScorecardNarsingh Deonarine’s aggressive century put West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI in a strong position after the second day of the three-day tour game at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Deonarine’s effort was well supported by another gritty half-century by Shivnarine Chanderpaul to pull the West Indies side from a tricky 104 for four to 299 for seven by the end of the day.New Zealand, who had struggled in overcast conditions on the first day, lasted only 7.2 overs in the morning session as their two remaining batsmen were removed cheaply by offspinner Veerasammy Permaul, who finished with figures of 3 for 34. The West Indies batsmen negotiated the opening spells from Chris Martin and the much-awaited Neil Wagner but Daniel Vettori seized the advantage with three wickets in two overs to reduce West Indies to 45 for three. Asad Fudadin and Chanderpaul stabilised the innings with a 59-run partnership, which was broken by Tarun Nethula when he had Fudadin bowled.However, it was Deonarine’s innings that put the bowling under pressure while Chanderpaul held firm at the other end, and both combined in a 129-run partnership to take West Indies ahead. In the last session, Vettori had Chanderpaul caught at mid-off soon after he reached his half-century while Wagner accounted for Deonarine and Devon Thomas.But New Zealand, 150 runs behind, have their task cut out for the final day. Vettori accepted that New Zealand had tough two days in the field, but was satisfied with the bowling performances. “There have been some good things today, particularly the bowling of Neil Wagner. He is a different style of bowler than what New Zealanders are used to. He runs in hard all day and is a welcome addition to the side,” he said.”For me, it was about getting some overs under the belt after a considerable long lay-off and to be able to bowl 20 overs on a wicket similar to the Test wicket, will probably hold me in good stead.”

Craig Overton took four wickets as Durham slumped to 125 all out before fifties from Craig Meschede and Craig Kieswetter put Somerset in charge

David Hopps at Chester-le-Street09-May-2012
ScorecardPaul Collingwood fell for 4 as Durham struggled after being put in to bat by Somerset•Getty ImagesThis was just the sort of pitch where one might have imagined that Durham’s know-how would have seen them through. Though bottom of the table, Durham have an average age of 31; Somerset, down to 11 fit players, average only 23. It was just the time for some gnarled old pros to provide a few home truths to the young shavers on a lively pitch that seamed throughout the day, but it did not turn out that way.Somerset, fielding what must be one of the youngest sides in their history, bowled intelligently and then turned the game in their favour with some spirited counter-attacking after tea, amassing 155 in the final session at not far short of a run a ball. Peter Trego, at 30 the oldest player in their side, set the tone as he drove pretty much everything that was pitched up to make 40 from 35 balls before he was betrayed by one that kept low from Ruel Brathwaite. That is how Trego can play, but what followed was even more striking as Craig Kieswetter and Craig Meschede took the cue with half-centuries of attacking intent.Meschede, a 20-year-old South African, twice slapped Mitchell Claydon for three boundaries in an over and included 13 fours in his 62 before Callum Thorp had him caught at first slip. Kieswetter, unbeaten on 60 at the close, has the chance to cause further damage – although judging by the weather forecast perhaps not until Friday.Meschede set new first-class bests with the bat and ball, taking three wickets earlier in the day in a Durham innings in which he was overshadowed by the youngest player of all, Craig Overton, barely 18 and playing only his second Championship match, who returned figures of 4 for 38 and reacted with a frisson of excitement every time the ball slipped past the outside edge.Overton, a gangling young Devonian with a nice high action, hit the seam regularly and as he and Meschede shared the last five wickets, delighted in high fives with smaller colleagues who could not quite reach. Somerset, short on resources, must steel themselves and use him wisely.Durham, not helped by two rain-wrecked matches in London, have been so bereft of batting form that no batsman in their top six has yet reached 50. Included in a familiar crash was Paul Collingwood, whose commitment to extending his Durham career with his England days now seemingly spent is an admirable show of loyalty to a county game that needs such gestures, but who so far is struggling to gain much reward. He got off the mark with a streaky boundary against Trego, but was out third ball and now has 37 runs in five attempts. Durham needed something better, especially after Dale Benkenstein had pulled out at the last minute after dislocating a shoulder in the warm up.Phil Mustard, coming in at 92 for 5, must suspect that he has transmuted into Chris Read, another wicketkeeper/captain who is well used to rescuing an innings on the rocks. But a spliced pull shot against Meschede ended his thoughts of a revival and Durham’s last seven wickets tumbled for 35 runs in 9.3 overs. The Eleven Fit Men of Somerset, barely more than could be squeezed on to Uncle Tom Cobley’s horse, were cock-a-hoop.Celebrations looked premature when Somerset lost four wickets for 45 in return. Graham Onions, true and straight, took wickets in his first two overs with lbw decisions against Arul Suppiah, first ball, and Alex Barrow; Lewis Gregory, who had batted soundly, pulled Callum Thorp to mid-on; and James Hildreth was late on the shot as Mitch Claydon bowled him middle-and-off. At tea, it had the makings of a 20-wicket day and equality at the end of it, but Somerset’s gusto changed all that.

Mahela Jayawardene’s half-century may have been the slowest for Delhi Daredevils this season but it helped his team become the first side to qualify for the playoffs

The Report by George Binoy15-May-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMahela Jayawardene controlled Delhi Daredevils’ chase with an unbeaten half-century•AFPMahela Jayawardene’s half-century may have been the slowest for Delhi Daredevils this season but it was compiled under trying circumstances and helped his team become the first side to qualify for the playoffs. Jayawardene’s composure under pressure ensured that an incisive fast-bowling performance from Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav, which restricted Kings XI Punjab to a middling total, was not in vain. With a place in the top four secure, Daredevils need to win only one of their last two games to secure No. 1 position.Kings XI, on the other hand, needed victory tonight and in their remaining two games to be assured of a playoff spot. They cannot afford another defeat and will have to depend on net run-rate and on a permutation of results in other matches to qualify. Kings XI had persevered to make a below-par total competitive in their first clash against Daredevils – this season’s 64th game – but did not have enough runs in the end.Daredevils unleashed their quick bowlers, supported by a crack fielding unit, and a steady fall of wickets ensued after Kings XI chose to bat. They had made a brisk start but Aaron ended that with his first ball: Shaun Marsh caught glancing down the leg side. In his second over, Aaron had the free-swinging Mandeep Singh pulling to midwicket, where Virender Sehwag dived forward to take a low catch.Kings XI were progressing well, though, and reached 50 for 2 in 6.2 overs. Yadav was the fifth bowler introduced, in the eighth over, and struck with his second ball. Nitin Saini drove loosely at a fast outswinger and Sehwag was stooping at first slip to catch the edge. After David Miller was run out by a direct hit from Pawan Negi at mid-on, Azhar Mahmood, the last of Kings XI’s proper batsmen, was in as early as the 10th over. He stayed only until the 12th, when he hoisted Yadav towards long-off, where Irfan Pathan back-pedalled and caught the ball over his right shoulder on the edge of the boundary.Kings XI were eventually in danger of being dismissed and David Hussey, who had been crying out for a reliable partner in vain, had to play within himself. He even turned down singles in the final two overs and dragged his team 136 for 8.Hussey, however, had one really quick bowler in his attack too and Parvinder Awana rattled the Daredevils top order. He cut one delivery into Virender Sehwag and bowled him off the pad; he straightened two balls just outside off and induced edges from Venugopal Rao and Ross Taylor in the sixth over. In wretched form already, Taylor was recalled for this game in Roelof van der Merwe’s spot but was out for a duck. Daredevils were 37 for 4. Awana’s fellow seamers, Praveen Kumar and Azhar Mahmood, were economical too and Daredevils were only 42 after eight overs.At this stage of Kings XI’s innings, Sehwag had already used five bowlers. Hussey had used only three and had to bring in his fourth sooner rather than later. He gave Piyush Chawla the ninth over and watched Jayawardene cut the second ball for Daredevils’ first boundary since the fourth over. Two balls later, Ojha stepped out and lofted the legspinner towards the straight boundary. The tide had begun to turn.Daredevils needed 82 off 60 balls and Ojha continued to target Chawla, charging the bowler to loft consecutive straight sixes in the 11th over. Chawla also dropped a straightforward chance off Ojha at long-on, off Mahmood in the 13th over. Hussey, however, continued to persist with him and chose not to bowl himself.There was irony as well. Chawla, who went for 33 in three overs, finished his spell with a maiden, while Awana, who had figures of 3-0-8-3, went for 14 in his last, the over that ended the game as a contest. Irfan Pathan played the shots, while Jayawardene watched in satisfaction, having been the glue that held Daredevils together.

County cricket must reassert its reputation for honesty and integrity in the wake of the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing case according to Angus Porter, head of the players’ union.

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2012The ECB could legally enforce a worldwide ban upon Danish Kaneria, according to Ian Smith, legal director of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA). Smith said the ECB would be within its rights to impose a ban subject to holding a full investigation into Kaneria’s alleged role as the go-between in the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing case.Westfield was sentenced to four months in prison for accepting £6,000 to concede 12 runs in an over bowling for Essex against Durham in 2009. Kaneria was named at Westfield’s sentencing hearing as the alleged “fixer” for the deal. Westfield was banned from all cricket by the ECB pending a disciplinary hearing and Smith said the ECB could ban Kaneria under the same terms.”The procedures allow for an interim suspension exactly in the same way as has happened to Mervyn Westfield,” Smith told BBC Test Match Special. “If on the face of the evidence – and we all have to agree it looks bad whilst we cling on to innocent until proven guilty – it is within the remit of the cricket disciplinary commission to suspend if they think that the evidence they have got is enough to justify that.”There are appeal mechanisms but what has been agreed at ICC level is that all of the Boards will honour the move of the other board in that direction. If the ECB suspend that suspension applies across the board to all cricket and we would expect the Pakistan cricket Board to honour that.”If you start to dabble in these things you will get caught and the penalties are much higher than anything you might warn doing something corrupt. I hope that serves as a deterrent effect for the future.Smith comments come after the chief executive of the PCA, Angus Porter, said county cricket must reassert its reputation for honesty and integrity in the wake of the Mervyn Westfield spot-fixing case.Westfield, the former Essex fast bowler, was jailed for four months at The Old Bailey after admitting his involvement in fixing – the first cricketer in England to be prosecuted for such an offence.Porter, chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), told BBC Radio Five Live: “If we can establish a culture which says this game has to be honest, it has to be played straight, and we will demonstrate this to everyone who joins our team in everything that we do, I think that’s our best defence.”A confiscation order was also made for £6,000, the amount that Westfield was paid to concede a specific number of runs in the first over of a CB40 match between Durham and Essex in September 2009.The payment came to light when Westfield returned home late from a party to his Chelmsford flat with an Essex team-mate, Tony Palladino, and showed him a plastic bag full of £50 notes, described by Palladino as “the most money he had ever seen”. The scam was only reported to the ECB six months later after the PCA had issued new instructions for reporting suspicions of rigging matches.Porter preferred to take a positive view of Essex’s response, despite the lengthy gestation period between discovering and reporting the incident. “What I do think is positive is when within a dressing room we can establish a positive culture led by the captain and senior players,” he said. “We saw this demonstrated at Essex, that a more junior player went to the senior players. The senior players got their heads together, worked out what to do and did the right thing.”