Terrible time for Baz no deterrent
Fears the harrowing Chris Cairns case would deter cricketers from reporting alleged match-fixing appear unfounded, with the number of incidents reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC) up in the 12 months since the trial ended.
But those statistics concealed real problems, New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association chief executive Heath Mills said.
While increased ICC resources had resulted in an increase in reported allegations, there was not player ‘‘blanket acceptance and trust’’ in its processes, Mills said.
Cairns faced charges of perjury in London, based on him saying in court he ‘‘never, ever cheated at cricket’’ and nor would he ‘‘contemplate doing such a thing’’. He was acquitted on all charges.
Brendon McCullum and other prosecution witnesses were put through the legal wringer in Southwark Crown Court, in a trial that left all involved mentally scarred.
Former Black Caps captain McCullum – a voluntary witness – was angry his statement to the ICC was leaked, and said he found the experience of testifying as akin to ‘‘Chinese water torture’’.
Nor did Lou Vincent, his wife Elly Riley or top-flight cricketers who gave evidence – Cairns among them – find the court experience pleasant.
The stresses of the trial prompted fears that players would no longer come forward to allege wrongdoing, if it meant going through what those in the trial had to endure.
McCullum later said he felt his experience would scare others getting involved in attempts to clean up the game.
But the ICC this week said those fears had failed to be realised, with year on year the number of players reporting concerns having ‘‘increased’’.
‘‘It is important to appreciate that a report of a concern does not automatically equate to match fixing,’’ strategic communications general manager Claire Furlong said in a statement.
‘‘Every alert is assessed, followed up and logged on our central information hub and where appropriate a formal investigation is undertaken.’’
She put it down to more effective education programmes, greater strength and depth in anticorruption units and a ‘‘collective will to drive corruption out of the sport’’.
She said improvements have been made in several areas since McCullum reported Cairns, his former friend and team-mate.
‘‘ICC has always supported Brendon McCullum and will continue to do so and commend him for his actions in coming forward,’’ she said.
‘‘It is fair to say that significant improvements have been made since then across the whole anticorruption unit; from improved education, policies and procedures to central intelligence gathering – every single concern that is reported is now held centrally.
‘‘This means our intelligence analysts can identify patterns and link seemingly unrelated incidents more quickly and effectively.’’
The ICC did not give specific numbers in relation to the media inquiry.
Nor has it ever been able to determine who leaked McCullum’s statement, only that it was not an ICC leak.
It has ‘‘put strong measures in place to ensure this type of incident was never repeated’’, Furlong said
The Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) backed McCullum’s concerns at the time he expressed them, in June.
‘‘There is a degree of nervousness generally among players who report, around how that information will be used. Brendon’s experience doesn’t help with that,’’ Tony Irish, FICA’s chief executive, told
Mills did not feel those problems had been properly dealt with yet.
‘‘There is still a bit of work to do to get players’ trust around the ICC,’’ he said.
Players should be at the centre of the fight against corruption, as the vast majority were not cheats.
‘‘Players are a vital tool in the fight against corruption. I don’t think the ICC are fully there yet, that’s for sure.’’
The court case highlighted the approach of the ICC’s detectives, showing notes were at times rudimentary and exposed McCullum to attack for changing his story, when he had to go over it three times.
After the trial Cairns said: ‘‘It’s not a victory as such because in a case like this, I really don’t think there are any winners.’’