ICC to probe into fixing leak

Wellington, May 21: The International Cricket Council launched an urgent inquiry on Wednesday into how Brendon McCullum’s testimony to a match- fixing investigation was leaked, while clearing the New Zealand captain of any involvement in corruption.

ICC chief executive David Richardson admitted leaks of highly confidential information undermined confidence in the organisation’s anticorruption drive, expressing “deep regret” that McCullum’s testimony became public.

“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,” he said.

“We are taking all steps available to us to urgently investigate how certain information in the form of statements has come to find its way into the media.”

Richardson said he wanted to “correct any misperception that he ( McCullum) is somehow under suspicion”.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White reacted angrily to the leak this week, demanding answers from the ICC about how evidence to its crack investigative unit came to be splashed over newspapers worldwide.

In yet another leak reported Wednesday, Vincent’s wife Eleanor told investigators that Cairns allegedly recruited her husband in a match- fixing scam during the short- lived Indian Cricket League in 2008.

“Lou and I kind of fell out about the whole ICL fixing thing, as I didn’t want him to be involved, but Lou kept saying, ‘ don’t worry, we’re all doing it’,” she said, according to a transcript obtained by TVNZ.

Richardson did not give any time- frame for completion of the leak inquiry or the wider investigation into matchfixing, which reportedly involves games in at least five countries from 20082012.