Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
Chris Cairns
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Corruption
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Cricket
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Elly Riley
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ICC
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Lou Vincent
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Match-fixing
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Spot-fixing
The allegations of involvement of former New Zealand players in match-fixing continue to swirl around the cricketing world. And on face value, the leaked testimony of Lou Vincent's former wife is damaging, on all sorts of levels; Stuff reports:
Chris Cairns continues to protest his innocence amid more evidence against him being disclosed, this time from Lou Vincent's ex-wife, alleging he was a cricket match-fixing ringleader.
Cairns' name was publicly linked with sworn evidence to International Cricket Council investigators for the first time today, as the former New Zealand allrounder issued a second statement in a 12-hour period: ''I totally reject the allegations against me and I will prove this.''
The latest leaked evidence is a sworn 10-page document from Elly Riley, Vincent's ex-wife, that she provided to anti-corruption (ACSU) investigators last October. It follows leaks in the past week of former test opener Vincent's explosive 42-page testimony, and New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum's signed three-page statement, both of which are understood to name Cairns as a fixing ringleader.
Riley's evidence, reported by One News tonight, was that the fixing began at the Indian Cricket League in 2008, and that Vincent told her: ''Chris was going to pay him US$50,000 (NZ$58,000) a game for the fixing.''
Vincent was soon confronted by a stranger with a suitcase full of money, but two weeks later things went awry, Riley said in her evidence.
''I got a phone call from Lou and he was crying, saying he'd just lost Chris Cairns US$250,000 or something like that because he got things wrong.''
Riley alleged the fixing continued in English county cricket, and the more players that were involved, the more money Cairns would receive.
She confronted Cairns during a night out in Manchester in 2008. He told her they were safe, everyone did it (fixing) and no one would get caught.
''I said that you're involving so many players - you're involving the whole team and by doing that you're getting greedy. I just can't see how information on the fixing is not going to leak out to others and you're not going to get caught,'' Riley said in evidence.
''Chris said that I was right, but told me not to worry as he had it all under control. Chris just sort of laughed it off.''
Once again we reiterate what we said yesterday. These are allegations only, and Chris Cairns must still be considered innocent until he has been proven otherwise.
But the allegations are hugely damaging to the integrity of the sport of cricket; once regarded as the most noble of all ball sports. It has become clear that match-fixing is not just the preserve of players from India and Pakistan, with Lou Vincent having admitted his involvement, and an English county player having given a sworn testimony against Chris Cairns. How deep does the rot go?
Match-fixing and spot-fixing are a cancer on cricket. Radical treatment is required if the patient is ever to have a chance at some sort of normality, but the prognosis for cricket is extremely guarded at the moment.
