Mervyn Westfield, who was sentenced to four months in prison and banned from cricket for five years for spot-fixing, has been cleared to play for second XI and minor counties due to “his contribution to anti-corruption initiatives”.
In 2012 Westfield pleaded guilty to spot-fixing during a one-day match for Essex against Durham in 2009 and was given a ban from all forms of the game until 16 February 2017.
Westfield’s ban from first XI county cricket will remain until that date but the ECB Cricket Discipline Commission’s chairman, Gerard Elias, said the 27-year-old is allowed to play minor counties and first-class second XI cricket from the start of this season “after acknowledging the important contribution he has made to anti-corruption initiatives, including a recent trip to South Africa to support a player education programme”, in which he has shown “a real and substantial effort in this area which reflects his continuing remorse.”
Westfield accepted £6,000 to concede more than 12 runs in an over in 2009 and despite Durham only managing 10 runs, he was sent to Belmarsh prison, a maximum-security facility, something that he has previously described as “hell.”
After his release, Westfield was allowed to play club cricket in 2014 and has worked as a supermarket assistant in east London. He could feasibly return to full county cricket action in a year’s time.
