Former cricketer Lou Vincent charged with intentional damage

Former New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent appeared in court today. Photo / Michael Craig

Former Black Cap cricketer Lou Vincent, who spectacularly fell from grace after admitting match-fixing, faces a police charge of wilful damage for intentionally damaging a car, the Herald can reveal.

The former cricketer appeared in Hamilton District Court today.

The charge relates to alleged damage to a motor vehicle in Pukekohe on November 10.
He has yet to enter a plea and was remanded on bail.

Outside court, Vincent arrived with a woman and the pair took exception to being photographed by a Herald photographer.

Security detained the photographer, asking to see identification, while Vincent demanded the images be deleted.

The woman said the pair had no wish to speak to media and Vincent declined to answer questions as he left the court.​

Vincent, 39, admitted to match-fixing in July 2014 with a blunt statement which began: "My name is Lou Vincent and I am a cheat."

He confessed to 18 counts of fixing games in English cricket in 2008 and 2011.

He was banned for life from having any involvement in cricket by the England and Wales Cricket Board and later gave evidence in Chris Cairns' 2015 perjury trial in London.​

Cairns was subsequently acquitted.

In a frank interview with Newstalk ZB's Tony Veitch last year, Vincent said he had been racked with guilt and self-loathing after his match fixing admissions.

But he added that he'd turned a corner and finally "learned to love myself for the first time in years".

Vincent said he was living a simple life and focused on looking after his two "adorable" daughters.