England captain Alastair Cook has revealed his growing concern about the prevalence of spot-fixing within cricket, as fresh evidence of corruption emerged.
Cook’s comments came hot on the heels of reports in the British media that Brendon McCullum, the captain of New Zealand, had told the International Cricket Council, he’d been approached to underperform by “a hero” in matches back in 2008.
“You know the tell-tale signs,” Cook said in an interview with the London Evening Standard published on Monday.
“But you can always do more, can’t you, if it is still going on now? It is a worry,” the opening batsman added.
Cook played in the controversial Lord’s Test of 2011 which led to three Pakistan players – Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Aamer – being banned and jailed for their roles in a spot-fixing scam.
“Clearly, there are more and more cases that seem to be coming up now.
“It makes you incredibly worried. I know from how I play the game, you’re trying to protect the values, the traditions and history of the game – and play it in the right way.
“I’ve never been exposed to it personally and I don’t know how deep it goes, but it’s obviously a very serious situation.
Earlier, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) insisted McCullum was not under investigation for corruption.
NZC said it was “dismayed” that McCullum’s testimony to the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit had been leaked to the British media, saying he was committed to cleaning up the game.
Britain’s Daily Mail reported online on Monday that McCullum told investigators he was approached by a “world renowned former cricketer” twice in 2008, first in Kolkata ahead of the inaugural Indian Premier League, then during New Zealand’s tour of England later that year.
McCullum reportedly said the former star, player X, whom he described as “a hero who became a friend”, offered him up to 107,000 pounds ($A195,000) to underperform in matches.
“(X) said that the ‘Big Boys’ in international cricket were doing it and he didn’t want me to miss out,” the Mail quoted McCullum as saying.
Player X is believed to be the same person who former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent admitted to the corruption probe that he fixed matches for, it said.
