HARARE - Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has dispelled fears the local game could also have been caught in a web of globally corruption following stunning claims by a former international cricketer that fixing was rife in the cricketing world.
Former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent was this week reported to have furnished authorities with damning evidence of widespread spot fixing alleged to have taken place in different countries and competitions.
The Telegraph on Wednesday exclusively reported that Vincent, the former New Zealand batsman, has provided officials from the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit with a treasure trove of information about matches which were targeted for spot-fixing and the names of players who were involved.
Domestic matches played by English counties are among those about which Vincent has provided detailed evidence from the period when he was playing for Lancashire and Sussex, along with details of fixing in at least four other countries.
He has also informed them of the details of an approach by another corrupt player to a current international captain, who turned down the offer and reported it to anti-corruption officials.
He has also informed them of the details of an approach by another corrupt player to a current international captain, who turned down the offer and reported it to anti-corruption officials.
The Telegraph further stated that Investigators from the ICC’s anti-corruption unit are working with detectives employed by cricket boards around the world to piece together a complex case which they believe will emerge as the biggest fixing scandal since the Hansie Cronje affair 14 years ago, and possibly even more significant than that.
However, asked if the ICC anti-corruption unit is working with Zimbabwe Cricket, ZC managing director Wilfred Mukondiwa, through the association’s spokesman Lovemore Banda, said no such contact has been made, indication that Zimbabwe was clean in as far as fixing was concerned.
“Zimbabwe Cricket has a security officer who liaises with the ICC anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) on relevant matters. The ICC ACSU has not contacted him,” Mukondiwa said.
“Given that we have not heard from the ICC ACSU, we say that as of now there are no Zimbabwean names on the list (of players implicated in any fixing activities.)”
Interestingly, Vincent played in Zimbabwe’s domestic Twenty20 competition for Midwest Rhinos in 2010 and also toured here with his national side in 2012.
Probed further if there have been fears in Zimbabwe that fixing activities might have taken place, Mukondiwa said “no.”
*Additional reporting by the Telegraph.