Dylan Cleaver: Not guilty result kick in bails for embattled anti-corruption unit

Opinion

The return of not guilty in the Chris Cairns perjury trial is a triumph for the former all-rounder and a disaster for the International Cricket Council and their beleaguered anti-corruption unit.

When the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit's John Rhodes and his colleagues handed their case notes over - minus a 2011 diary which the court was told the former police officer inexplicably lost - to the Met Police and subsequently the Crown Prosecution Service they were, in many ways, handing over what was left of their reputation.

In bringing Cairns to one of the bedrocks of the criminal justice system, the Crown Court, they exposed themselves to a rigorous level of proof. The Crown case, and by extension the ICC ASCU's case, was found wanting. The adversarial nature of the criminal justice system meant that key witnesses were attacked and left exposed. Cairns was acquitted and vindicated.

Who's going to want to be the next one to put their heads above the parapet and expose themselves to a skilled advocate who makes a living from shaping words to suit an argument?

Nobody, that's who.

Lou Vincent was eviscerated in court. Having confessed to cheating and lying and having received 11 life bans by the England and Wales Cricket Board for multiple offences in county cricket, bans which are enforced worldwide, Vincent might have thought his evidence would provide a catharsis of sorts. Instead, Justice Nigel Sweeney's summation left you in no doubt that his evidence was a far greater weapon for the defence than the prosecution.

Brendon McCullum was not bloodied but the defence did hone in on what it called the "shifting sands" of his evidence. Cairns' acquittal could embolden McCullum's critics at home.

Even the unimpeachable Daniel Vettori, who was only there via videolink to confirm that McCullum had informed him of an approach by Cairns, was subject to a searching cross-examination that focused on cricketers' off-field activities.

The former two may assist Lalit Modi as he seeks to have a defamation case overturned - they may figure they're all-in now anyway - but they'll be the last of a breed unless the ICC changes the way they deal with match- and spot-fixing allegations.

Part of the issue for the ASCU was jurisdiction. The Indian Cricket League was unsanctioned and had few rules in place around anti-corruption. Any time an ASCU investigator wanted to ask players questions, their lawyer could point to the rules and rightly say, "Where in this document does it give you the right to ask my client these questions?"

The ACSU by its very nature is a paper tiger. None of the investigators are sworn police officers, which means they have no access to basic investigative tools, like surveillance and phone records.

All they've got is intelligence and the willingness of players to step forward. The events of the past more than eight weeks will assuredly see players step back.

This trial, and the events leading up to it, have confirmed their worst fears - that confidential testimony will be leaked and character will be assassinated.

At the conclusion of the trial the ICC issued a two-line statement.

"The ICC notes the decision of the jury finding Mr Chris Cairns not guilty and confirms its utmost respect for the process that has been followed.

"The ICC and its ACSU will continue to work closely with and provide all possible support to players in order that the fight against corruption can be tackled effectively and collectively."

Good luck with that.