Tom - I think you are justified to feel ripped off - it would be interesting to see if you can find ways to re-coup your cash.
Edit - we should also note that the only reason Lou Vincent is spilling the beans is to try and avoid a custodial sentence. He didn't volunteer the information, he got caught.
Here is another view from Athers in the Times
The news that Lou Vincent, the former New Zealand batsman, is helping the ICC with its inquiries, to the extent that his information forms the basis of a full and continuing investigation by the ICC Anti-Corruption Security Unit, will be taken by some as further evidence that the game is completely corrupt. They are wrong.
Although Vincent’s information will spell out the dangers, repeatedly outlined here, of the interconnectedness of cricket now, as players move from team to team, and country to country, it should not be taken as evidence of how corrupt the game the game is, rather how relatively clean. Cricket should really breathe a huge sigh of relief.
It depends on your starting point. There has been so much whisper and innuendo, in the distant past and more recently, about fixing, that most people, I assume, think that betting and corruption has infiltrated all areas of the game. But despite the fact that Vincent played in hundreds of senior matches (23 Tests, 98 first-class games, 102 one-day internationals, 220 List A matches and 120 Twenty20 games, including nine internationals) and played with hundreds of players, of varying degrees of fame, he alleges that only a handful of players and matches were affected.
As has been reported, a number of matches are under suspicion in the Indian Cricket League in 2008 as well as three one-day matches in county cricket, one in 2008 and two in 2011; a handful of matches in the Champions League in 2011 and 2012 involving, as confirmed yesterday by New Zealand Cricket, the Auckland Aces. Not a single international match, though, is under suspicion and, with the exception of the county games, not one match involving teams that supporters have invested any emotional interest in.
Vincent has not been a bystander to the international game; he has been in and around it for a considerable period of time. Lord Condon warned that fixing and Twenty20 is a dangerous combination, as is the combination between fixing and low-profile televised, domestic matches, and, most critically, the link between fixing and competitions where the commercial imperative is to the fore. But, taken as a whole, cricket should really be relieved that the detail provided by Vincent is so limited in scope.
As the investigation is continuing, the three other international players who are known to have been contacted by the ACSU will be sleeping uneasily. Those others who turned down Vincent’s approaches will be thankful that their initial unease, good sense or consciences saved the day. Further action is likely to follow, as the Metropolitan police and ACSU close in.
For all the limited past success of the ACSU, its role is critical, both in its ability to operate without interference and in the way it is resourced, so that it can function effectively and act as a deterrent.
The ICC now is a moribund body, powerless and ineffectual, given the way that India, England and Australia are able to shape cricket to their will, and recent reports suggest that the role of the ACSU may be changed, reducing its independence. This would be a mistake.
Above all, players must be aware that there is a body that is independent, well resourced, free from political interference, that is able to police the game, even if its powers remain limited. Its presence alone is critical. The present investigation is a public reminder to players that wrongdoing may be prosecuted — now, or as in this case, years down the line. Vincent’s information raises other questions, of course, which may be answered in time. How widespread was the knowledge of these fixes? How many players did not report approaches? Did administrators know of this as criminal cases involving fixing in the Indian Cricket League were going on? Was information deliberately suppressed?
The real story for cricket, though, is that an international player, involved in the game for many years, has come forward and, as a result, only a tiny number of players and matches are under suspicion.
Author
Topic: Fixing is rife in global cricket - Lou Vincent (Read 2975 times)