London - A lurid tale of bribes, prostitutes, alcohol and drug abuse unfolded yesterday in the perjury trial of legendary New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns in London.
At Southwark Crown Court, his former team-mate Lou Vincent described a seedy world of match-fixing, admitting to a spiral of deceit which began in games at the Indian Cricket League in 2008 and which also took in county matches that year and in 2011.
Former opener Vincent (below) alleges that he ended up ‘working’ for Cairns while playing for Chandigarh Lions in the now defunct league. He also conceded that he approached England’s Mal Loye and Zimbabwe’s Murray Goodwin to help him with fixes in county games, but was rejected.
Cairns is being prosecuted for perjury after declaring under oath that he had never cheated at cricket during a libel case in 2012. He is also charged with perverting the course of justice, and denies all charges against him, as does his co-defendant Andrew Fitch-Holland, who faces a sole charge of perverting the course of justice.
Vincent alleged that aside from Cairns, those also involved in match-fixing included Indian Dinesh Mongia and New Zealander Daryl Tuffey.
The Kiwi ex-player said that in December 2007 he suffered a ‘mental meltdown’ and sought professional help and was given anti-depressants, which he supplemented with cannabis and alcohol.
He said that he went innocently to the ICL the next season after being offered a $350,000 contract, but that shortly after arriving he received a call from an Indian, Varun Gandhi.
‘He told me he was involved in a cricket bat company,’ Vincent told the court. He said that upon entering Gandhi’s hotel room, he saw a woman seated on the bed who Gandhi said ‘was available for sex’. He later admitted to sleeping with her.
According to Vincent, Gandhi ‘pulled out a wad of American dollars and said it was a sponsorship downpayment. That’s when alarm bells began to ring.’
Within half an hour he reported the incident to his agent Leanne McGoldrick, who was also staying at the hotel, and went to see Cairns.
‘Chris was interested and then there was a pause for a short period and he turned to me and said, “You’ve done the right thing, you are working for me, and that will act as good cover”.’
Vincent maintains that he was offered £33 000 per ICL game and that he helped fix four or five.
However, he said his total payments for match-fixing ended up being more like £100 000. He alleged that once he thought Cairns was going to attack him in a hotel room with a cricket bat after he accidentally scored more runs than instructed.
Daily Mail