DUNEDIN - New Zealand cricketers Chris Cairns and Daryl Tuffey have expressed shock at being linked to a match-fixing probe, with at least one of them seeking legal advice.
Three former New Zealand representatives are under investigation by the International Cricket Council for alleged match-fixing, but only one, Lou Vincent, has confirmed he is cooperating with the inquiry. The others, Cairns and Tuffey, both said they were in the dark. Tuffey told Television New Zealand on Friday he was seeking legal advice.
"I'm in the dark, the allegations are a shock to me," the 35-year-old said from Australia where he is now based. Cairns said Thursday, when news of the match-fixing investigation broke, that he had had no contact with the ICC. "I haven't heard from anyone. I haven't heard from anyone from the ICC, from anti-corruption. Honestly, I'm as much in the dark as you are."
The ICC's anti-corruption unit has spent four months in New Zealand investigating match- and spot-fixing, which The New Zealand Herald said took place in more than one country. No charges have been laid. The allegations involving the New Zealand cricketers came just days after Sports Minister Murray McCully detailed plans to have elite sports monitored by government agencies and to have match-fixing made a criminal offence.
The clampdown would be put in place next year, well ahead of the 2015 ICC World Cup which is being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia. It would bring New Zealand into line with Australia which already has tough laws against match-fixing. The head of New Zealand operations for the World Cup, Therese Walsh, said the announcement that match-fixing would be made a criminal offence showed New Zealand was taking the issue seriously.
"We will take our lead from them in terms of anything that might need to happen for Cricket World Cup," she said. "I know the ICC has really strong monitoring around the tournament.
There will be as much vigilance as we can possibly expect."