0 Vincent charged with match-fixing

Another day; another twist in cricket's match-fixing drama. Former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent has been formally charged with match-fixing by the England Cricket Board; Cricinfo reports:

The ECB has charged former Sussex players Lou Vincent and Naved Arif with alledged match-fixing in county cricket.

Vincent is charged with 14 offences relating to two matches; a Twenty20 match between Sussex and Lancashire and a 40 over game between Sussex and Kent at Hove. Arif is charged with six offences in relation to the 40-over game between Sussex and Kent in August 2011.

Sussex lost the CB40 game in question by 15 runs, with Arif conceding 41 runs in six overs without a wicket, and Vincent being run out for 1 off seven balls. The T20 match was a quarter-final, which Lancashire won by 20 runs. Vincent was caught behind first ball off Sajid Mahmood in the Sussex chase.

The result cost them a semi-final spot. In November 2012, Sussex had confirmed that the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) had investigated the match.

Both players have been provisionally suspended from all cricketing activities organised, authorised or supported by the ECB, ICC, any other national cricket federation and any member of any other national cricket federation.

Chris Watts, head of ECB's Anti-Corruption unit, said: "This has been an extremely complex and lengthy investigation co-ordinated across many jurisdictions around the world. This matter is now the subject of formal legal proceedings and we will therefore make no further comment other than to reiterate our determination to bring to account the very small minority who seek to corrupt cricket."

ECB chief executive David Collier added: "The ECB's ACCESS unit has worked tirelessly in conjunction with the ICC's ACSU to bring about these charges, which once again demonstrates the ECB's zero-tolerance approach to corruption in our great game." 

The story goes on to detail what triggered the investigation:

The Daily Telegraph, which initially reported the story, said the Sussex-Kent match attracted bets totalling more than £12million on one legal gambling website alone, the highest total for any match of its kind in the past three years, which drew suspicions at the time but was cleared by the ICC's anti-corruption unit only for the case to be later reopened by the ECB.  

It is interesting that this match was initially cleared by the ICC's anti-corruption unit, but that the ECB's ACCESS unit has found sufficient evidence to bring charges against Vincent and Naved Asif. It makes us wonder somewhat at the competence of the ACSU.

If these allegations against Vincent are proven, he will likely as not face a life ban from any involvement in cricket. Even if his testimony brings down some of those further up the match-fixing chain, it is a sad end to what could have been a very good career. 

There is no place in cricket for those who succumb to the temptation of big bucks and corrupt the great sport.

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.