Cricket Australia has made it clear that anti- corruption is a 'deeply ingrained' part of Australia’s cricket culture, as the game in England was embroiled in more match-fixing controversy after a county player admitted to corruption.
Former Essex paceman Mervyn Westfield faces a potential jail sentence after pleading guilty in a London court to accepting 6000 pounds to concede a pre-arranged number of runs in a domestic one-day match against Durham in September 2009.
Several of Westfield’s Essex teammates were suspicious of the bowler’s performance after he conceded 60 runs from seven overs.
Westfield and another Essex player Danish Kaneria, a Pakistan leg-spinner, were arrested last May but Kaneria was never charged, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Westfield’s guilty plea comes three months after Pakistan trio Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were handed jail terms for spot-fixing in a Test against England at Lord''s in 2009.
CA said yesterday that it would not follow the England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to offer a three-month amnesty for players and officials with evidence of approaches from suspected fixers.
“What we are aware of is the very, very strong culture within the Australian team and throughout international and national Australian cricket, male and female,” a CA spokesman said.