Mervyn Westfield

First topic message reminder :

Meryvn Westfield, is due to stand trial today, due to spot fixing which happened whilst playing for essex in 2009..

he allegedly bowled his first over to allow a specific number of runs to come off of it.

i thoight about it, he isnt a grass, he should be commended on the courage of which he reported the matter.

He took six months to do so after he was told,following his release by Essex,so you can draw your own conclusions from that.
More is likely emerged when Westfield is sentenced,and Kaneria's involvement disclosed.He admits to introducing Westfield to a bookmaker friend of his,but denies he knew the man was seeking to corrupt players,and with no conclusive evidence against him,charges were dropped.
Others were approached too,and it is not inconcievable that that one or two succumbed in similar fashion,however they are unlikely to have been as indiscreet as Westfield as to tell others about it,which led to his downfall.
Essex police wish to talk with Kaneria again concerning the allegations but he of course has refused to return to Britain,whilst The Pakistan Cricket Board have banned him from International cricket in the meantime.

so what at least he did report him to the authorities, he still did the right thing!

He was more motivated by the resentment towards the county rather than a desire for justice,so before we hail him as a hero let's consider if any of us would consider grassing on a workmate and af riend who not only was a county colleague but a club mate at Wanstead CC also.

i dont care loverboy....its not grassing, at least he has done something for the good of the game, otherwise god knows how many games he may have done this in if he wasnt caught in the future!

Of course it's grassing,what else would you call it?
Others have been involved in spot-fixing,it's common knowledge in the game,yet none have felt the need to tell the authorities even though The ECB have declared an amnesty for those grassing up colleagues.
It's very hard to prove,and Westfield was the author of his own misfortune.
Palladino had little thought for the good of the game,more of his own good.

no it takes guts, to take action, especially against a fellow colleague, and he has done right for the good of the game!

You obviously know little of the true facts of the matter,
Palladino turned on his colleague when he knew he was to be released by the county , and was hopeful Westfield would be sacked instead,hardly took guts to do that!

to be honest, i feel its pointless talking about this with you, you clearly cant understand the fact that palladino was trying to keep the integirty of the game intact by reporting him to the authorities.

It is you my friend who do not understand what and why he did what he did.
Westfield told him as a friend what he had done,and Palladino kept quiet about it for many months.When he heard Essex were to release him,he thought he was being treated unfairly and decided to grass up Westfield in the hope that the county would release him instead and her would gain some credibility and be retained by the county.
It worked the other way and made his staying at Essex untenable and he was released anyway.Nothing about maintaining the integrity of the game.
You have much to say on here,a lotof it borne of ignorance,I'd stick to what you know in future.

Well thats blown his chances of becoming the next Pakistan coach then

LOVERBOY wrote:
You have much to say on here,a lotof it borne of ignorance,I'd stick to what you know in future.

I have no idea who is right on the Palladino issue (although there is a moral debate to be had as whether one can do the right things for the wrong reasons anyway), but this is out of order.

loverboy grow up! that was a low blow, and pretty pathetic IMO.

Give it a rest please you two or I'll just lock the thread.

Don't try and be smart with your 'emoticons' cf, you are as much to blame as loverboy is. Remember, you did tell him it was pointless debating with him, which can be construed as offensive in its own right. That doesn't excuse loverboys post to you, but that is a separate matter.

i give up, i really do. if you looked at the thread, you would realise that there was someone else invovled here!

Yes, and did I not acknowledge that? As opposed to acting like a temperamental hormonal woman act like a man and admit you were also in the wrong, and I can deal with loverboy separately.

im not just talking about loverboy, read the thread!

What are you talking about? I read it, I saw the two of you still kicking off days after this topic was created, and I've told you to stop it. It isn't too difficult.

its ok dont worry about it.

Very sad to hear about Mervyn Westfield's situation. He could have gone on to play for England one day as the new Devon Malcolm.

no he couldnt, he was an average bowler at best..

he only played a handful of games over the last couple of seasnos.

Mervyn Westfield was due to be sentenced yesterday but the hearing was adjourned for one more week. According to his QC, ''administrative matters'' had arisen and more time was needed.

Probably best not to speculate too much but all very odd.

certaibnly something odd about it...he will go down just a matter of time.

Developments could be very interesting today.

Danesh Kaneria named as Mervyn's corruptor. Another blight on Pakistani cricket, not what they needed.

Kaneria has been suspected from the start the little Flip but all the icc did was warn him. I hope both of them get jailed as well as the other guy.

Just heard that Westfield has been sentenced to four months' imprisonment.

I actually feel this is rather harsh and have some sympathies for him. I'll write more tonight.

Kaneria admitted some time ago that he had made the introductions,but with no independant evidence as to the fact that he iniated the deal,the CPS decided there was little chance of conviction ,and why no charges were bought.He has since refused to return to this country for fear of repercussions,and remains suspended from International cricket in his own country.
So much for the authorities moving swiftly to stamp out corruption when they as well as Essex CCC kinew his connections as early as 2008.
I agree with GB that Westfield ,the dupe on this occassion should not have gone to prison,albeit for only a couple of months,however with a precendent having been said,and as a warning to others .it was felt that a custodial sentence was inevitable.

More shocking is the news that plenty at Essex knew of the match fixing taking place, including James Foster and others. One has to suspect that the Essex management must have had wind of it, yet they still opted to offer Kaneria a contract extension?

A black day in the history of Essex CCC, and heads should roll because of this.

Lover - at risk of asking to you to go over old ground, could you please confirm your understanding of Tony Palladino's involvement and, particularly, the timelines involved. Thank you.

Btw, it was apparently suggested in court today that Varun Chopra had also been approached but he had dismissed the approach as ''banter''.

As stated in court,Palladino visited Westfield's flat where he was shown the cash.
He kept quiet about it for some months before he learned that Essex were to release him,and feeling rather resenful he then grassed up his mate in the hope he would in fact be retained by the county and Westfield released in his place.
It's what I've been told by reliable sources and have no reson to dispute the sequence of events.
I am well aquainted with prosecuting counsel in the case and will speak with him again soon,and possibly reveal more .

Kaneria looks like being allowed to captain his provincial side in a FC final later this week - ridiculous.

Very bleak day for Essex. According to Cricinfo then captain Mark Pettini, then vice--captain and current captain James Foster and David Masters had all been told that by Kaneria about links with bookmakesrs.

Varun Chopra was also approached, whilst Tony Palladino told Adam Wheater and Chris Wright about what Westfield had told him.

This all happened before Palladino finally blew the whistle after the rumours had got round to Pettini and Paul Grayson, the coach.

An introductory ramble and possible analogy.

About 30 years ago I was watching a football match at Loftus Road with some friends. A few minutes into the game and a real punch up started in a part of the crowd near to us. About two dozen guys from late teens to early twenties were involved. After about a minute, the police waded in. The fighting promptly stopped and the yobbos seemed to disappear amongst the rest of the crowd. The police came out dragging with them just one lad who looked about thirteen! A chorus of laughter and cat calls followed the police and the person they had nicked as he was marched away.

The current circumstances of Mervyn Westfield make me think of that old story and the young lad who might have spent that night behind bars. Certainly there was wrongdoing but I can't help feeling the main culprits have got away with it. An example seems to be made of a young dupe mainly because of the failure to catch those most involved.

Additionally, in Westfield's case, I don't believe the role of the police and the cricket authorities is clear or satisfactory. The BBC online news report ends:
''Essex police said there were no plans to interview Kaneira again although the investigation would remain under review.
Det Sgt Paul Lopez said it was now a matter for the cricketing authorities to deal with.''

We also now have a situation where the EWCB (I believe it's the EWCB who have done it) have intorduced ''a three month amnesty'' for details of other match fixing incidents to be reported.

Should the EWCB be able to call in the courts to punish someone so as to encourage the others and then be able to call off the law as it chooses? I have serious doubts.

As Shelsey alludes to above, the apparent complacency of Essex CCC appears highly concerning. Even if no illegal actions have been committed, that surely needs urgent investigation and action.

As for Westfield himself, I do not condone his actions but do believe that if English cricket and Essex CCC, in particular, had had proper safeguards in place then he might well never have become involved.

I actually saw Westfiel play in a seconds county game for Essex against Surrey at Guildford around the time news was first breaking in May 2010. He and Kaneira were questioned under caution by Essex police the day after this match ended. It is perhaps worth noting that the attitude of his team mates to him in the field at Guildford (and they must then have had some idea of what had happened and might come) was supportive and encouraging.

It is probably also worth noting that this case has been surrounded by postponements and delay. Too many to detail here. Let me just emphasise the offence occurred in September 2009, Westfield was charged in September 2010 and appeared at the Old Bailey in January 2012 when he pleaded guilty. Sentencing was then adjourned on two occasions until today. I don't believe Westfield was much, if at all, responsible for the delays since he was charged. Having this case and all the resultant uncertainty hanging over him throughout such a lengthy time must have seriously hindered any chance he might have had of resuming a playing career.

Westfield certainly has himself to blame for where he finds himself tonight. However, just like those yobs at Loftus Road all those years ago, others with a lot more to answer seem to have disappeared from view.

guildfordbat wrote:An introductory ramble and possible analogy.

About 30 years ago I was watching a football match at Loftus Road with some friends. A few minutes into the game and a real punch up started in a part of the crowd near to us. About two dozen guys from late teens to early twenties were involved. After about a minute, the police waded in. The fighting promptly stopped and the yobbos seemed to disappear amongst the rest of the crowd. The police came out dragging with them just one lad who looked about thirteen! A chorus of laughter and cat calls followed the police and the person they had nicked as he was marched away.

The current circumstances of Mervyn Westfield make me think of that old story and the young lad who might have spent that night behind bars. Certainly there was wrongdoing but I can't help feeling the main culprits have got away with it. An example seems to be made of a young dupe mainly because of the failure to catch those most involved.

Additionally, in Westfield's case, I don't believe the role of the police and the cricket authorities is clear or satisfactory. The BBC online news report ends:
''Essex police said there were no plans to interview Kaneira again although the investigation would remain under review.
Det Sgt Paul Lopez said it was now a matter for the cricketing authorities to deal with.''

We also now have a situation where the EWCB (I believe it's the EWCB who have done it) have intorduced ''a three month amnesty'' for details of other match fixing incidents to be reported.

Should the EWCB be able to call in the courts to punish someone so as to encourage the others and then be able to call off the law as it chooses? I have serious doubts.

As Shelsey alludes to above, the apparent complacency of Essex CCC appears highly concerning. Even if no illegal actions have been committed, that surely needs urgent investigation and action.

As for Westfield himself, I do not condone his actions but do believe that if English cricket and Essex CCC, in particular, had had proper safeguards in place then he might well never have become involved.

I actually saw Westfiel play in a seconds county game for Essex against Surrey at Guildford around the time news was first breaking in May 2010. He and Kaneira were questioned under caution by Essex police the day after this match ended. It is perhaps worth noting that the attitude of his team mates to him in the field at Guildford (and they must then have had some idea of what had happened and might come) was supportive and encouraging.

It is probably also worth noting that this case has been surrounded by postponements and delay. Too many to detail here. Let me just emphasise the offence occurred in September 2009, Westfield was charged in September 2010 and appeared at the Old Bailey in January 2012 when he pleaded guilty. Sentencing was then adjourned on two occasions until today. I don't believe Westfield was much, if at all, responsible for the delays since he was charged. Having this case and all the resultant uncertainty hanging over him throughout such a lengthy time must have seriously hindered any chance he might have had of resuming a playing career.

Westfield certainly has himself to blame for where he finds himself tonight. However, just like those yobs at Loftus Road all those years ago, others with a lot more to answer seem to have disappeared from view.

I thought there would be some comments on this. Mind you, I didn't realise at the time that CF was himself banged up in Fortress Chelmsford for the weekend.

Anyway, any comments, folks?

kinda agree the essex board, the ICC, the whole essex team knew about kaneria yet they didnt then there are more serious issues to be resolved and he should go. But only in light of what was going on around him - still think he should be punished - mind you but if heads don't roll at essex and icc then he as a minor player in the whole saga shouldn't have to pay.

Shahenshah - I've no problem with Westfield being punished and agree he should be.

In all the circumstances, four months in the pokey seems a bit harsh to me but I accept others can make an argument for it not being enough. The extent of his punishment is not the main concern for me.

My issue is what happens next? My suspicion is that the police and the law step aside as already seems to be happening (see my post above) whilst the cricketing authorities establish committees and commission reports which may help for the future but will not catch those who have already been guilty of greater criminal acts or shameful complacency.

real dark times for essex CCC

this is going to rumble on for some time, rumours that other players in recent times are being found out about spot fixing

Love... oops, sorry wrong thread.