Cricket has been front and centre this week for all the wrong reasons. Corruption, dodgy dealings, hundreds upon thousands of dirty dollars, shifty characters, and an international cast – it all sounds like something from House of Cards. And it’s only the beginning. Unfortunately, this is the current landscape of a sport that is embedded in our colonial roots and this plot goes against everything the sport stands for.
Match-fixing is an insidious, selfish act that is ruining the game. The level of deceitfulness is abhorrent, not just in the fixing, but across the board. I’m not mad about what’s happening; I’m just sad.
I’m sad that a sport many of us love so much is being turned into an utter circus by desperate people; that people are being dragged into this who shouldn’t be; and that someone is leaking information which could prevent swift justice from happening.
During my time within cricket I’ve met some fascinating people. People I’d grown to respect and admire. One of those people was Lou Vincent. I first met Lou when I was a teenager and then in my early 20s when I started a career in cricket I got to work with him.
He was always easy to get along with. He always had a big smile. A few years ago he opened up about his battle with mental illness. He drove around the UK in a caravan raising awareness of mental health issues, and I dropped him a line saying how I admired what he was doing for such a worthy cause.
Despite his involvement in the scandal, I still support him as a person. I am disappointed in his actions. But I feel his involvement is only the tip of the iceberg and I’m sure in time more information will come out. He is not the only one. Once you’ve sold your soul to the devil it’s very difficult to get it back.
How is it possible that testimony has been leaked from the governing body? Isn’t it slightly ironic that this information has been leaked from the Anti-Corruption Unit?
Hopefully Lou speaking out and exposing the dirty underworld of cricket will bring about change in the sport. Chris Cairns has denied he is involved and suggests there are “dark forces” at play. This could be true and within the wider cricket family conspiracy theories are flying thick and fast.
The reality is that sometimes the Blackcaps perform so poorly that we would joke it was being fixed. Can we be so sure now? I would like to think that our players are more focused on the sport than the dosh. From now on though, whenever a Blackcap bowls a ridiculous wide, or drops a catch, or gets run out well out of his crease, questions will be asked. One day the questions will dissipate, but not any time soon. We’ve lost trust. And if match-fixing is so prevalent do we even want to spend the money to buy tickets to see our team play?
The International Cricket Council has a lot to answer for. How is it possible that testimony has been leaked from the governing body? Isn’t it slightly ironic that this information has been leaked from the Anti-Corruption Unit? Or was this a tactic by these “dark forces” to make this group look incompetent and ensure the backing for a restructured unit run by other parties?
The only other scandal that I can think of, on this level, would be that of Lance Armstrong and world cycling. He denied, denied and denied, even when the evidence was stacking up against him. He threatened anyone who dare question him. The International Cycling Union swept it under the carpet too. It took years for him to confess.
Will there be cover-ups in cricket? I really hope not, but I’m not holding my breath.
This content is brought to you with funding assistance from New Zealand On Air.
