Union chief: Cairns verdict will deter whistleblowers

PLAYERS’ union boss Angus Porter has expressed concern about the willingness of whistleblowers to come forward in the future following Chris Cairns’s acquittal on charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice. The former Test star walked free from Southwark Crown Court yesterday after the jury’s not-guilty verdicts. That followed evidence from New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who claimed Cairns had approached him twice in 2008 with a view to involving him in corruption. Lou Vincent, another of Cairns’s former team-mates, claimed he had carried out match-fixing on Cairns’s behalf. ‘It doesn’t encourage people to believe that if they come forward with information they are going to have a happy experience,’ said Porter (below), chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association. ‘People have seen how tough and challenging it can be, both in the witness box and in terms of how their reputation might be affected by it. ‘It builds on a concern we’ve all had for some time that the process of reporting is one that asks a lot of people and doesn’t give a huge amount back. It is important they don’t feel they are going to be treated as a suspect or in some other way suffer personal

damage, whether by reputation or otherwise.’ Among players’ unions, the PCA have been at the forefront of educating their cricketers about the dangers of getting involved in corruption. Porter said: ‘What would concern me would be if a new case came along and indicated that there was a widespread issue recently, where the evidence was the players didn’t understand what they were supposed to do or what their responsibilities were. ‘There have been some issues in recent times — the Bangladesh Premier League being an example — but by and large the evidence is that players are much more certain of their responsibilities.’