Mervyn Westfield, the former Essex bowler, was sentenced to four months in jail after admitting his role in spot-fixing on Friday.

Westfield was sentenced at the High Court after admitting to accepting £6,000 in return for conceding a set number of runs off an over in a Pro40 match against Durham in September 2009. It was claimed that Westfield was "targeted" by former Essex team mate and Pakistan international Danish Kaneria, who set up the deal.

Passing sentence, Judge Anthony Morris told Westfield: "I am satisfied that you would have known from the outset that what was being offered was a corrupt payment and that you could and should have refused it.

"I am also satisfied that, if you had any concerns about the approaches being made to you, you had an opportunity to mention them to the team captain or management, or if you were nervous of doing so, at least to your friends within the team. You chose not to do so."

He said the person who made the corrupt payment had used the information to influence either a foreign legal betting market, or an illegal one here or overseas.

Westfield emptied a plastic bag of rolled-up £50 notes on to his bed, and said Kaneria had told him a "friend" would pay him to concede a certain number of runs. Kaneria was allegedly himself due to receive £4,000 as part of the Durham match deal.

Westfield pleaded guilty last month to one count of accepting or obtaining a corrupt payment to bowl in a way that would allow the scoring of runs. He has received an interim suspension order from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Kaneria, who joined Essex in 2005, was arrested in connection with the case but released without charge. The court heard that he was warned in 2008 by the ICC that he was keeping "highly inappropriate company" over his links with the Indian bookmaker Arun Bhatia.