By Charles Randall
30 September 2015
Mervyn Westfield is to educate cricketers in South Africa about the dangers of corruption in cricket during a six-day visit in November.
The former Essex and Wanstead CC fast-bowler was jailed for four months in 2012 for his involvement in spot-fixing, but he has played an important part in the Professional Cricketers Association's anti-corruption campaign since his release from Belmarsh prison.
Westfield, these days back in club cricket with Frinton in Essex, has spoken to first-year county professionals at two gatherings and accompanied Association staff on a series of pre-season county visits last year.
It was acknowledged in the judge's remarks at the Old Bailey, where Westfield pleaded guilty, that as an impressionable young player he was led into spot-fixing by Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan leg-spinner on Essex's staff. The ECB eventually banned Kaneria for life. Westfield was banned from professional cricket for five years and, harshly, from club cricket in any capacity for three years. The all-cricket ban was effectively lifted in exchange for his co-operation in an anti-corruption campaign.
During his South Africa visit Westfield is due to talk about his first-hand experiences, speaking to players from 11 franchises and provincial teams in Benoni, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Centurion as well as academy players and youth coaches.
Westfield said in a BBC interview in 2014 that he found speaking to groups nerve-racking and rewarding. "I want to turn around and speak to whoever I can, anyone who wants to speak to me and asks me what happened,” he said, “so they don't have to fall into the same trap. I don't want anyone to make the same silly mistake I did.”
“Corruption happens, not a lot, but you hear of it here and there. They look to target more vulnerable people, so young players should 100 per cent take it on board and listen to warnings. Actually hearing it from someone who has been through it and experienced it you obviously listen a bit more.”
Westfield felt he was left isolated by his Essex team-mates when the spot-fixing case first came to light. It left him wondering how he would be treated by the county cricket community after his release, but on a visit to Somerset for one of his talks he was greeted with hugs by more than one player. This reflected the support he was given by the Wanstead club.
South Africa is a country that faced the biggest corruption scandal in 2000 when the national captain Hansie Cronje admitted spot-fixing after evidence gathered by Delhi police. As a player with authority, his behaviour was far more culpable than Westfield's, so the South African was very fortunate to escape trial and likely prison sentence. Cronje was banned from cricket for life and might have chosen to assist an anti-corruption drive if he had not been killed in a plane crash in 2002.
Mervyn Westfield and his experiences:
http://www.thepca.co.uk/mervyn-westfield-tells-his-story-from-wanstead-to-belmarsh-270913.html
30 September 2015
Mervyn Westfield is to educate cricketers in South Africa about the dangers of corruption in cricket during a six-day visit in November.
The former Essex and Wanstead CC fast-bowler was jailed for four months in 2012 for his involvement in spot-fixing, but he has played an important part in the Professional Cricketers Association's anti-corruption campaign since his release from Belmarsh prison.
Westfield, these days back in club cricket with Frinton in Essex, has spoken to first-year county professionals at two gatherings and accompanied Association staff on a series of pre-season county visits last year.
It was acknowledged in the judge's remarks at the Old Bailey, where Westfield pleaded guilty, that as an impressionable young player he was led into spot-fixing by Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan leg-spinner on Essex's staff. The ECB eventually banned Kaneria for life. Westfield was banned from professional cricket for five years and, harshly, from club cricket in any capacity for three years. The all-cricket ban was effectively lifted in exchange for his co-operation in an anti-corruption campaign.
During his South Africa visit Westfield is due to talk about his first-hand experiences, speaking to players from 11 franchises and provincial teams in Benoni, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Centurion as well as academy players and youth coaches.
Westfield said in a BBC interview in 2014 that he found speaking to groups nerve-racking and rewarding. "I want to turn around and speak to whoever I can, anyone who wants to speak to me and asks me what happened,” he said, “so they don't have to fall into the same trap. I don't want anyone to make the same silly mistake I did.”
“Corruption happens, not a lot, but you hear of it here and there. They look to target more vulnerable people, so young players should 100 per cent take it on board and listen to warnings. Actually hearing it from someone who has been through it and experienced it you obviously listen a bit more.”
Westfield felt he was left isolated by his Essex team-mates when the spot-fixing case first came to light. It left him wondering how he would be treated by the county cricket community after his release, but on a visit to Somerset for one of his talks he was greeted with hugs by more than one player. This reflected the support he was given by the Wanstead club.
South Africa is a country that faced the biggest corruption scandal in 2000 when the national captain Hansie Cronje admitted spot-fixing after evidence gathered by Delhi police. As a player with authority, his behaviour was far more culpable than Westfield's, so the South African was very fortunate to escape trial and likely prison sentence. Cronje was banned from cricket for life and might have chosen to assist an anti-corruption drive if he had not been killed in a plane crash in 2002.
Mervyn Westfield and his experiences:
http://www.thepca.co.uk/mervyn-westfield-tells-his-story-from-wanstead-to-belmarsh-270913.html