Recently there were some claims in media that the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit have shielded New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum in an alleged match-fixing scandal in 2011. But the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit has categorically rejected suggestions that they protected the Blackcaps player from punishment for not reporting an alleged match-fixing approach in 2008.
In 2011, McCullum made a statement to ICC Anti-Corruption Unit which was leaked to British media in 2015. In the statement, McCullum claimed to have been approached in 2008 by a former teammate to fix matches.
Since then, questions have been raised about why the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit took no action against McCullum for his three-year delay in reporting the alleged approach. Flanagan regretted that McCullum's reputation has been stained by these media claims.
In a radio interview on January 23, ICC Anti-Corruption Unit head Ronnie Flanagan denied these claims and clarified that they haven’t done anything to protect the New Zealand captain. He said, "This is absolute nonsense ... absolute, preposterous nonsense.” He added, “McCullum's reputation is not sullied in my mind and I made that very clear to Brendon".
Under the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit regulations at the time, players could report improper approaches to their team captain or team manager and were not obliged to involve the anti-corruption body.
In December 2015, McCullum said he stood by evidence. He gave his statement at the London perjury trial of former teammate Chris Cairns. in November 2015, Cairns was cleared of perjury and perverting the course of justice during a libel action about match-fixing at the end of a nine-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Former New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent was banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for breaching their anti-corruption regulations in 2014. He plied his trade mainly in limited-overs cricket on the English county circuit, turning out for Lancashire in 2008, Northamptonshire in 2010 and Sussex in 2011, before the corruption charges and the life ban ended that stint rather unceremoniously.
Recently match-fixing scandals have been a major talking point throughout the World. Not only in Cricket but other sports like football and tennis have also come under the radar of match-fixing.
This clarification from the head of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit is clear indication that they are not taking these match-fixing claims without proper investigation.
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