London/Wellington, July 1:
“I am a cheat,” New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent said today while admitting that he had indulged in fixing several matches, including one involving Kolkata Knight Riders, after which he was banned from cricket for life.
Vincent, who played 23 Test matches and 102 ODIs for New Zealand, said he had accepted money for fixing matches in England as also in India-driven Champions League T20 (CLT20) for several years as also the now-defunct Indian Cricket League.
The Kolkata Knight Riders Champions League match in which Vincent was involved in spot-fixing took place on October 15, 2012 at Cape Town in which he was playing for Auckland Aces.
“Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) today announced that former Auckland Aces batsman Lou Vincent has been banned for life from participating in the tournament after pleading guilty to seven charges relating to spot fixing,” CLT20 said in a statement.
It was found that Vincent attempted to corrupt two matches involving the Auckland Aces during the October 2012 CLT20 played in South Africa by entering into agreements with a bookmaker for financial gains.
“Six charges related to Vincent’s conduct in the 10 October 2012 match between the Aces and Hampshire at Centurion and 15 October 2012 match between the Aces and Kolkata Knight Riders at Cape Town,” the statement said.
“He faced a further charge from his conduct during the 2011 CLT20, where he failed to report an approach from a bookmaker,” it said.
The England and Wales cricket Board also banned Vincent for life after he admitted breaching the ECB’s anti-corruption regulations.
“Mr Vincent pleaded guilty to 18 breaches of the regulations in total. Four breaches related to a Twenty20 match between Lancashire and Durham in June 2008. The remaining 14 charges related to two fixtures played at Hove in August 2011, namely a Sussex v Lancashire Twenty20 match and a Sussex v Kent CB40 match,” it added.
Vincent had also indulged in accepting bribes for fixing
games during the now-defunct Indian Cricket League. He has also been held guilty for failing to report approaches by bookies during the Bangladesh Premier League last year.
The ECB said 11 of the 18 charges against Vincent called for life bans.
“In accordance with the ECB Anti-Corruption Code, Mr Vincent has accepted an agreed sanction of a life ban from all forms of cricket, in the form of concurrent life bans for each of the 11 offences which carried a life ban,” the ECB said.
“The terms of the ban, which required the approval of the ECB’s independent Cricket Discipline Commission, will prevent him from playing, coaching or participating in any form of cricket which is recognised or sanctioned by ECB, the ICC or any other National Cricket Federation.”
ECB Chief Executive David Collier said Vincent was brought to book due to the effective coordination between his Board and the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.
“This has been a complex case which has crossed different cricketing jurisdictions and required close collaboration and intelligence-sharing between both our own anti-corruption unit, other domestic boards and the ICC’s ACSU,” he said.
“We are extremely pleased that the matter has now been brought to a satisfactory conclusion and that an individual who repeatedly sought to involve others in corrupt activity for his own personal gain has accepted that his conduct warrants a lifetime ban from cricket,” he asserted.
An emotional Vincent issued a statement confessing his involvement in fixing and offering his deepest apologies for shaming the game and his country.
“My name is Lou Vincent and I am a cheat. I have abused my position as a professional sportsman on a number of occasions by choosing to accept money in fixing,” Vincent said in a statement.
“I have lived with this dark secret for so many years, but months ago I reached the point where I decided I had to come forward and tell the truth.
“It’s a truth that has rightly caused uproar and controversy in New Zealand and around the world. I have shamed my country, I have shamed my sport, I have shamed those close to me. And for that, I am not proud,” he added. (PTI)
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