New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has admitted he covered up alleged cricket corruption for almost three years. This is the same McCullum that many cricket followers have hailed as a shining force for good in the international game.
The same McCullum who gave an unsolicited lecture to new Australian captain Steven Smith over the Ben Stokes handled ball incident, chastising Smith for his supposed “immaturity”.
The same McCullum who cricket fans and pundits have been falling over themselves to praise since he took over as skipper, citing his team’s more attacking play and less narky demeanour.
Certainly, the McCullum-led Kiwis have been wonderfully entertaining on the pitch.
But the positive PR campaign has snowballed to the point that New Zealand have been painted as a saintly side, made up of players who could not even conceive of a sledge let alone deliver one.
When, in this year’s World Cup, Tim Southee bowled Aaron Finch, charged down the pitch and screamed in Finch’s face from so close the players’ shirt sleeves touched, there was not one mention of Southee’s behaviour.
Were the likes of Mitchell Johnson, James Anderson or Virat Kohli to have given a similar send-off it seems unlikely it would have been ignored, and quite probable it would have blown up in the media, whether mainstream or social.
You see, that would fit the prevailing narrative – that the Australians are boorish, that Anderson is a bully, that Kohli is a spoiled brat. Southee’s behaviour didn’t match the current theme about the virtuous Kiwis so it was ignored.
So will McCullum, the rider of a tsunami of good will, be held to account over the spot fixing allegations the same way as would a cricketer from Pakistan, the country with a negative narrative surrounding corruption?
Some of you may not have followed the spot fixing trial which has been taking place in London’s Southwark crown court. McCullum was called as a witness in the case against former teammate Chris Cairns, who is being accused of lying during a match-fixing libel action.
Cairns is facing charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice over the libel case he actioned against IPL founder Lalit Modi.
Cairns successfully sued Mr Modi for damages in relation to an accusation of match fixing made on Twitter in 2010.
It is now being alleged that Cairns lied during this libel hearing. During the ongoing trial in London, McCullum has alleged how Cairns tried to involve him in corruption.
McCullum alleged he was first approached by Cairns in Kolkata in April 2008. According to media outlets reporting on the trial, the New Zealand captain told the court Cairns allegedly contacted him three times in total about the spot fixing.
During the first approach, McCullum had gone to Cairns’ hotel room. Cairns had then allegedly described in intricate detail how he planned to do the spot fixing and asked McCullum to take part. McCullum says he rejected all of Cairns’ approaches.
Despite having intimate knowledge of this alleged criminal behaviour by Cairns, McCullum stayed silent on the issue for almost three years. Eventually, in February 2011, he lodged the allegations with cricket’s anti-corruption authorities.
Asked during the current trial why he had waited so long, McCullum reportedly said: “I kind of did not want it to be true. He [Cairns] was someone I looked at as a friend.”
In the recent comment piece in which McCullum criticised Smith, he made this statement: “The longer you play this game the more you realise that some things are too valuable to spoil”.
If McCullum’s allegations about spot fixing are true, then the Kiwi skipper spent almost three years allowing cricket not just to “spoil” but to become rotten to its core.
Many cricket fans practically salivate on their keyboards as they type vitriolic assessments of ‘sledgers’ like Kohli, Anderson and Johnson.
Many of the same people have juxtaposed the supposedly heinous acts of such players against the irreproachable behaviour of McCullum and his Black Caps.
In the pantheon of cricketing sins, if sledging is a single, then covering up corruption is a triple hundred.
If we are to take McCullum’s allegations as true, then the moral high ground he has built up for himself has subsided from a wave of deceit and disgrace.
barryoh
Guest
The operative word being winners. Stick to telling us how humble you are, and how you must be respected.
World in Cricket
Guest
I totally agree with your article Ronan - this needs to be given more oxygen
Casper
Guest
Looking the other way makes ou complicit in the crime, in my opinion. I would have thought that his contract with cricket NZ would require him to report any such approach? If he'd been approached by a Pakistani player I'd almost guarantee it would have been raised very quickly, seems BMC was hoping his mate's intent to fix a game was just hushed up. That's the issue. Another important point is that Smith's appeal was in keeping with the rules of the game, confirmed by the third umpire decision.
Clark
Guest
Well considering the sensitivity of the inicident, and that nobody else came forward until Lou Vincent Confessed.If McCullum came forward at that time. He ran the risk of being used for Defamation by Cairns, just as Lalit Modi did (who is a much more powerful figure). Lets also remember that the great Ricky Ponting also did not come forward with information, but I see we are glossing over that. I feel that Australians are bitter because the cricketing world value NZ and McCullums nature and spirit of play, and are respected for that, something the Aussie team on a whole has failed to do for a long long time, the team and their followers are Just bad winners in my opinion
Matt
Guest
And every single game from the point he was made aware of it where there was spot fixing on Cairns' part until he reported it is just as much on McCullum as Cairns. He may not have been involved, but he was complicit in it occurring.
Basil
Guest
St Baz NZer of the year!!! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/new-zealanders-of-the-year/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501017&objectid=11373420
TheCunningLinguistic
Guest
Well played, Zim Zam! I agree with Ronan somewhat- in my view, he has lost some credibility. He is certainly entitled to have an opinion on the spirit of the game, though his opinion has definitely lost some weight. I also believe 3 years to be 'too long', so he may have to face some sanction. I understand his moral dilemma, however he bent the rules of the game quite seriously.
Sylvester
Guest
Ha. Classic. McCullum is the first to admits he's made mistakes, so I'm sure he'll happily decline the sainthood. Just wants the game to be played in a better spirit. Heaven forbid...
Basil
Guest
he definitely turns his head to face up to Finch while screaming at him, so not a lot worse than what Haddin allegedly did to Guptil in the final.
Michael Keeffe
Roar Guru
Whilst I get where the article is coming from, it's not like McCullum only chose to speak up yesterday or was forced to speak up. He willingly came forward in 2011 (now 4 years ago) and voluntarily reported Cairns. Should he have reported it straight away? Yes of course. I'm sure if he could have his time again he would. Much of McCullum's reputation as a good leader and a good example as a cricketer has been established since 2011. Perhaps the decision to come forward was a turning point for him and the making of the man he is today. I don't think it tarnishes his reputation. It shows he has grown from his mistakes.
Bobbo7
Guest
No one is defending the match fixers here. If Cairns did it he should go to jail. i don't see anyone trying to defend Cairns or match fixers. But don't let the actual discussion get in the way of a good NZ bash.
Frontrow
Guest
umm...no McCullum was not 12,000 mile away but in England playing ODI cricket in County cricket after the Kiwi test series .....so we can probably just up the road really
Zim Zam
Roar Rookie
Fair enough. I just reckon any bloke who's got to broadcast his graciousness that much can't be genuine.
Zim Zam
Roar Rookie
Seeing as we're dealing with something serious, like an offence under the Anti-Corruption Code (and neglecting to report 'without unnecessary delay' is an offence, I looked it up), I'd say no, it's not a cheap shot. It's a valid issue that deserves to be discussed.
Zim Zam
Roar Rookie
I don't reckon Ronan is saying anything of the sort. He's saying it's in the laws that if you get approached, you report it 'without unnecessary delay'. I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark and say that three years is an unnecessary delay. His point, therefore, is that McCullum has done the wrong thing by the game, and that it puts a bit of a dent in his shining suit of armour. Just because he's a human doesn't mean it doesn't matter when he does something wrong.
Zim Zam
Roar Rookie
No-one's saying it's black and white. That doesn't mean there wasn't a right thing to do in the situation, and the fact that the right thing to do wasn't easy doesn't mean that it doesn't matter that McCullum didn't do it.
Zim Zam
Roar Rookie
I've never seen him do anything particularly like it at all, but my point is the double standards: photoshop Brad Haddin's face over Tim Southee's and imagine what the media's reaction would have been to it then. Personally, I don't think there's anything much in Southee's celebration, and nor did I think there was anything much in the supposed 'send-offs' by Haddin and the other Aussies during the WC final. To be perfectly honest, I think that the game had so little real suspense and intrigue that something had to be beaten up in order to sell newspapers.
Dom
Guest
Either way, I don't see how one relates to the other, logically speaking. We agree that delaying reporting a match fixing offer and on-field behaviour are two very different things. So I haven't seen anything convincing that because of one McCullum shouldn't be allowed to do the other. From what I gather, some people are just furious about what McCullum said about Smith, and so are using this as a way of trying to argue he has no basis for stating his opinion on anything related to behaviour in cricket. Whatever his faults, he's not Hansie Cronje - he's a current Test captain playing the game in a certain matter, and advocating that others do the same. Call him preachy, sure, or even just flat out wrong, but he's still got just as much right to make his opinion heard on that issue than the rest of us.
Crampion
Guest
Absolutely, but put it into context as its not as black and white as you make it. You never stuck up for a mate? Also,your other posts show thus has nothing to do with BM, more the fact the poor Aussie cricket team get picked on. You just cant wait for players from other nations to do something wrong in your eyes. And then bam, striaght on top of it you are calling foul and playing the "its not fair" card! Transparently pathetic!
Crampion
Guest
So this is whats its all about to you? Nothing to do with BM but the fact the poor Aussies get picked on. Thats one big chip on your shouoder there mate.