McCullum blasts ‘casual’ ICC

LONDON — Brendon McCullum said Monday he stood by the evidence he gave against New Zealand great Chris Cairns as he urged the International Cricket Council to be more “professional” in dealing with players alleging match-fixing. Former New Zealand captain McCullum, delivering the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s, also questioned whether handing out life bans to players such as former teammate Lou Vincent, who acknowledged their wrongdoing, would encourage others to come forward. McCullum, then still an active international cricketer, gave evidence against Cairns in a perjury trial in London which ended with the acquittal of the former all-rounder in November last year. Charges were brought against Cairns after he sued former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi for libel in 2012 over a 2010 tweet in which the administrator accused him of match-fixing. McCullum, as he had done in court, said “former hero” Cairns had approached him to fix matches - allegations Cairns denies. “I think it is appropriate, standing here at ‘the Home of Cricket’ (Lord’s), to confirm that I stand by everything said in my statements and the evidence I gave at Southwark Crown Court,” McCullum, 34, said. Players are told that failure to report an approach is almost as serious as any offense itself. McCullum added he did not report Cairns’s approach until 2011 because he felt “scared,” and was later taken back by the “very casual” manner in which his allegations were noted, but not recorded, by a member of the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU). McCullum then made two more statements, another to the ACSU and to London’s Metropolitan Police. Recalling he was “hammered” by Cairns’ lawyer for making three statements, McCullum said someone at the ICC should have realized his evidence might one day be used in court. “I think players deserve better from the ICC and that, in the future, the evidence gathering exercise has to be much more thorough, more professional. “In my opinion a person taking a statement should ensure that the witness is advised about what may occur.” McCullum’s evidence was then leaked to Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper. “How can the game’s governing body expect players to co-operate with it when it is then responsible for leaking confidential statements to the media?,” he said Monday. Records tumble in one-dayer The record books were rewritten twice in an astonishing run spree at Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge ground Monday which saw a record English one-day partnership and the most aggregate runs scored in a List A match. By the close in the Royal London One-Day Cup game between Notts and Northamptonshire, statisticians were checking to see if there had ever been a day like it anywhere in the world. The big hitting began from the start with Nottinghamshire’s Riki Wessels and Michael Lumb sharing a record one-day partnership in England of 342 from 39.2 overs. Wessels eventually departed for a career-best 146, from 97 balls, while Lumb went on to make 184, also his best and a record for the county, as Nottinghamshire posted 445 for 8, the second highest score for a List A match in the world. The runs continued to flow when Northamptonshire chased down what would have been another record for a team batting second. But they fell short despite 128 from Rory Kleinveldt. Their total of 425 gave Nottinghamshire victory by 20 runs in a game which saw an unprecedented 870 runs scored in the day, three more than Surrey and Glamorgan managed in 2002. The Nottinghamshire stand beat the previous record in England of 318 by Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid for India against Sri Lanka at Taunton in the 1999 World Cup. Lumb and Wessels’ English record is the third-highest partnership in List A games, behind the 372 which Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels took off Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup. The record for the highest team total is held by Surrey, who made 496-4 against Gloucestershire in 2007. List A matches are played over 40-60 overs.