Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle / Sport

Opinion: It's time to get on fast track

By jared.smith@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Whanganui Chronicle·
23 May, 2014 09:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Jared Smith

Jared Smith

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

WELL, anyone want to bet what the topic of discussion should be this week?

The ICC investigation of world cricket's latest match-fixing scandal, and New Zealand players' role in it, has created what can only be described as a geological oddity.

This is the first time a slow-moving glacier has caused destruction over a short term.

The glacial speed at which the ICC is moving - as made clear by the fact the revelations of the alleged conversations between Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum and "Player X" regarding spot fixing took place six years ago - led directly to the latest kerfuffle to shake the public faith this week with more leaked documents from somewhere inside the increasingly beleaguered ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

ICC's chief executive David Richardson says the focus now is to "urgently investigate" how these testimonies and documents found their way to the media. Yes, there needs to be a time for that.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But as that excellent Oliver Stone conspiracy movie JFK postulated when Kevin Costner's character met his own "Mr X", "The how and the who is just scenery for the public ... prevents them from asking the most important question - why?"

Maybe it's because they come from a sporting code whose crown-jewel game - test matches - take five days to reach a result, but the world's governing cricket authorities have never been known to move with swiftness on matters that damage or even evolve the status quo.

The flourishing of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket "circus" of the 1970s and the 2007 founding of the rebel Indian Cricket League, where accusations of fixing were rife, are proof of what happens when said bodies did not appreciate the current climate of economic realities or player dissatisfaction.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The ACSU is known to be a small unit and after all this time without significant findings as to how the fixing operation works - and, yes, it is a deep-rooted operation with a lot of thumbprints on it - the leaks have obviously come from sources who are thoroughly fed up.

These are individuals who want to get some runs on the board, who needed a "win", even if that was only through the accused making appearances in the kangaroo court room of media and public opinion.

It is akin to the drug-enforcement officer taking a low-level dealer off the street corner so his superiors can see they are making a "dent", while higher up the well-connected supplier continues to ply his trade with impunity.

For the integrity of the game, it's time to get on the fast track.

"Player X" may be gifted New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns - who went on the PR offensive in 2013 protesting his innocence, and has yet to be interviewed by the ACSU. While I am loath to verbally hang the player I went to Nelson's Trafalgar Park to watch play for Canterbury against Central Districts, it is time to start a full judicial process because that is what Cairns deserves.

The ICC must give ACSU every immediate resource to complete this investigation and present evidence so Cairns and others can have their day in court, either for exoneration or proper punishment their crimes would warrant.

As British lawyer James Wilson pointed out this week, thanks to these leaks it is unlikely Cairns can get a fair shake now either way.

Until that time, with every major match, a jaded sporting public will have one reaction in the back of their minds when they see a delivery slip a metre wide or a "generous" full toss get swatted over the ropes.

"Oh, I guess the fix is in."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Whanganui Chronicle

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running

Sponsored Stories

Rugby: Marist Knights seize senior title

Sponsored Stories

Rugby: One point in it as Taihape edge Kaierau


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running
Whanganui Chronicle

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running

'I’m doing it again to compete in it, rather than just complete it.'

15 Jul 05:00 PM
Rugby: Marist Knights seize senior title
Sponsored Stories

Rugby: Marist Knights seize senior title

14 Jul 05:00 PM
Rugby: One point in it as Taihape edge Kaierau
Sponsored Stories

Rugby: One point in it as Taihape edge Kaierau

14 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP