0 The ICC backs McCullum

New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum has received something of an endorsement from the ICC; the Herald reports:

The ICC has publicly commended New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum for his conduct in the match-fixing scandal enveloping the game.
The International Cricket Council's chief executive David Richardson spoke publicly to ward off any "misperception that he is somehow under suspicion".
McCullum's testimony to the ICC's anti-corruption investigation was leaked to the public this week, along with that of Lou Vincent. While Vincent's role in match-fixing is now becoming clear, Richardson said McCullum had done everything right.
He said the fact confidential information found its way into the public domain was worrying and the ICC was investigating how this happened as a matter of urgency.

"Of course, we recognise that this is a deeply concerning development for the stakeholders in the fight against corruption in the sport of cricket, and we wish to emphasise that Brendon McCullum is not under investigation in this matter," Richardson said.
"Whilst we have privately offered our full support to Brendon, we do so now publicly not only to confirm that, by assisting with the ACSU's enquiries, he has acted quite properly in accordance with his responsibilities as a professional cricketer... He is to be commended for his actions and we deeply regret that aspects of his statement are now in the public domain."

This does not bode well for Chris Cairns. He has said that Brendon McCullum and Lou Vincent are lying when they accuse him of being the mysterious Player X, but the evidence that McCullum, Vincent, Vincent's ex-wife and others have given to the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit is detailed and explicit.

Chris Cairns is, as we have said any number of times, entitled to the presumption of innocence. The onus will be on the ICC and any prosecutorial services to prove the allegations against Cairns beyond reasonable doubt. But it must be said that the evidence at this point is stacking up against Cairns. Clearly, both Cairns and McCullum cannot be telling the truth when their stories are at opposite ends of the scale. 

There is a separate issue for Chris Cairns. If it is later found that the evidence he gave in his libel case against ICL boss Lalit Modi in London was false, he will be at risk of being prosecuted for perjury, and the damages awarded to him may have to be repaid. The arrest in March of his former lawyer Andrew Fitch-Holland in London on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in relation to the libel case suggests that the match-fixing investigation may be just one of the hurdles Cairns faces in the next few months and years.

These are terribly sad times for those of us who love cricket.

0 Cairns: If I'm Player X, McCullum's lying

The murky world of cricket match-fixing got murkier overnight. Chris Cairns has put out what Stuff describes as an "explosive" statement suggesting that if he is the mysterious Player X, NZ captain Brendon McCullum has been lying; check this out:

Chris Cairns has emerged swinging, saying if he is 'Player X' then match-fixing claims attributed to New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum are "a complete lie".
Cairns released an explosive statement to Fairfax Media tonight in response to an interview given by McCullum to the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU), which was leaked to the Daily Mail. McCullum told investigators that a star international player had twice approached him in 2008 to request he fix matches, and said he could earn over $200,000 per match. McCullum said he rejected the offer.
Cairns maintained his innocence and insisted "dark forces" were at play.
"I am aware that former cricketer Lou Vincent and current New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum have made a range of allegations against a cricketer dubbed Player X," Cairns' statement said.
"It is well known that the ICC/ACSU has been investigating allegations of corruption and my name has been linked by others to these allegations. I am being asked whether I am Player X.
"Based on the limited information I have received during this investigation, I believe it is being alleged that I am that player. These allegations against me are a complete lie." 

We don't know who to believe any more. Cairns obviously thought McCullum's accusations in his ACSU interview were so specific they could only have referred to him. New Zealand Cricket is aware of the identity of Player X, but will not name him, for obvious reasons. 

The story is not going to go away. If, and we stress the word "if" any current or former New Zealand player is found to have participated in match-fixing or spot-fixing, they must, Lou Vincent included, be banished from cricket permanently.

As we have mentioned in the past, cricket is our first and most enduring sporting love. Our first memory of live first class cricket is watching a young Glenn Turner grind out three runs in a two-hour session against Central Districts at Cook's Gardens in Wanganui 50 years ago. These days, Turner would be accused of spot-fixing!

We played our first competitive cricket match in 1966. In the years since we have been a player, administrator, umpire and spectator. We continue to love test cricket in particular. but the abbreviated format of cricket, especially T20, is losing its allure. That is especially sad with the creme of the world's cricket talent set to grace New Zealand early next year for the ICC World Cup.

Do we have confidence in the ICC to get to the bottom of all this, and stamp out match-fixing and spot-fixing? In a word, no. It is time that these allegations were investigated by an organisation completely distanced from cricket. This is organised crime on a massive scale, given some of the numbers bandied around.

This is fast heading towards cricket's darkest hour. As lifelong cricket tragics, we despise what is going on in the sport. The game we love will never be quite the same again.

0 Who is Player X?

The cricket match-fixing allegations get murkier by the day; the Herald reports:

New Zealand Cricket have released a statement this afternoon to express their dismay that Brendon McCullum's testimony to the International Cricket Council has been leaked to the media.
"We can confirm that Brendon is not under investigation by the ICC and his testimony has actually been applauded by them," the statement read.
"NZC has 100 per cent confidence in our captain and his role in tackling corruption."
Details of the match-fixing offer made to, and rebuffed by, the New Zealand captain have been leaked to media.
The approach, first reported by the Herald on Friday, is part of the ICC's investigation into match-fixing.

Whilst it is clear that Brendon McCullum reported the approach from Player X to cricket authorities, it is less certain when this happened. New Zealand cricket fans need to be reassured that there was no undue delay.

And here's how the fix worked:

McCullum was interviewed recently by the ICC's anti-corruption unit and, according to cricket corruption expert Ed Hawkins in the Daily Mail, has testified that he was offered more than $200,000 to fix games.

He met a "former international star" in a café in Worcester while on tour with New Zealand in 2008, when the offer was tabled. According to testimony, the former star said that "the big boys" in international cricket were doing it.
McCullum has also revealed that he was first approached in Kolkata during the 2008 IPL and asked the cricketer how the mechanics of it worked.
"Using the piece of paper X explained the basic principles which were to score below a certain rate for the first six or so overs and then towards the end of the game there was another split. X told me he had done this himself," said McCullum, according to testimony.
"[He] told me that potentially he could get for me from between US$70,000-US$180,000.
"X told me he had a good group working for him in the ICL and I understand this to mean fixing for him. It was my opinion then, as it is now, that X was actively concerned in fixing... I believed he was asking me to do the same thing for him in the IPL as others were doing in the ICL."
McCullum was told he could launder the money through property deals in Dubai. The name of a contact was provided.
Once McCullum had rebuffed that approach, the same cricketer then cornered him in Worcester to ask him if he had changed his mind.
"He was a hero who became a friend so I always found it difficult to say no," McCullum told investigators.

Player X has yet to be identified. But until he is, a good number of players and former players are unfairly under suspicion.

Player X was obviously a high profile player if he was a hero of McCullum's, and the fact that he became a friend suggests their careers intersected. We have our own suspicions, but if they prove to be groundless, then it simply underlines our point.

Not every international player has been involved in match-fixing or spot-fixing. Unfortunately the actions of a few have cast a huge shadow over everyone, and worse still, over the wonderful sport of cricket.

The sooner the identity of Player X is revealed, the better for all concerned, and for the sport.