Cricket: Cairns' suspension prompts anti-corruption review

Chris Cairns. Photo / Dean Purcell

New Zealand Cricket carried out a review of its anti-corruption measures after former Black Cap Chris Cairns was suspended from a rogue Indian league amid claims of match-fixing.

Chief executive Justin Vaughan said the review was carried out when the claims began circulating but were limited to NZ Cricket's processes rather than studying past games.

Cairns, who now lives in Dubai, was suspended from the Indian Cricket League on October 27, along with team-mate Dinesh Mongia. The ICL stated that Cairns was suspended for not reporting an ankle injury, and Mongia for his knowledge of it and failure to tell team management.

The suspension followed a run of poor form by Cairns, who had scored 23 runs and not bowled during his last three matches as captain of Chandigarh Lions.

The day after his suspension, the Hindustan Times stated there were "reports" of Cairns and Mongia match-fixing. The newspaper gave no source for the claim.

His suspension was followed by the cancellation of his contract early this year.

Cairns' lawyer Andrew Fitch-Holland has rejected match-fixing claims, and did so again in an email to the Herald on Sunday yesterday.

He described the claims as "unfounded allegations". He said questions over Cairns' "reputation and probity" were taken seriously.

Fitch-Holland said Cairns was a "dedicated competitor" who had decided to "agree a termination of his contract" because of "uncertainty over the league's future and Chris' ongoing struggle with injury".

"He has other important activities to focus on, not least his foundation and its active work on rail safety."

Vaughan said the reports that followed the suspension prompted NZ Cricket to ensure its own processes to defeat corruption were watertight.

"There was some checking of our internal controls. I wanted to check around what are the protocols and that we were completely comfortable those protocols were followed [within NZ Cricket] - to make sure our own house is in order."

The NZ Cricket review shows the depth of concern present in traditional cricketing circles over the growth of the Twenty20 tournaments, particularly the ICL and the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The disquiet stems from the belief that the Twenty20 version of the game is more susceptible to manipulation by bookmakers. Most of the gambling on cricket takes place in central Asia.

The concern has heightened as big money offers to play in India continue to be made to New Zealand players, increasing the prospect of those players being exposed to bookies or associates.

Vaughan said "sanctioned [IPL] and unsanctioned [ICL]" leagues operated largely outside the International Cricket Council's sphere of control, which had led to discussion about how Twenty20 cricket was "a particular risk area".

Vaughan said NZ Cricket ran ICC-led education programmes on corruption for players and each player's contract clearly stated what was expected.

"It is important to remind players to be vigilant, especially when they are on their own outside the team environment."

Heath Mills, manager of the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association, said corruption and security were the biggest risk areas in cricket.

"The game is at risk of problems occurring around the development of these Twenty20 competitions."

He remained concerned that the Board of Control for Cricket in India - which owns IPL - had rejected an ICC offer of anti-corruption measures.

However, Mills said he had "complete confidence" in NZ players. "In this country they understand the issues around match-fixing," he said

While past high-profile scandals have given rise to the term 'match-fixing', most questions over corruption do not hinge on winning and losing games. Instead, gambling focuses on small details that are harder to spot.

Examples cited by those involved spoken to by the Herald on Sunday include betting on the number of wides bowled in a particular over, or how soon after achieving a certain number of runs a wicket will fall. Arranging such small details requires the complicity of only a single player.