Brendon McCullum: How can ICC expect players to co-operate when it leaks statements to media?

ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

06/07/2016

Former Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum slammed ICC for how they handled the Chris Cairns investigation during his MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture. McCullum has criticized ICC's anti-corruption unit's unprofessional approach, and has questioned how his confidential statements were leaked to the media.

Brendon McCullum gave a statement against his former teammate Chris Cairns at Southwark Crown Court last year, when the later was undergoing a trial. Cairns was later cleared of match-fixing allegations brought against him in November, 2015.

Speaking about his experience of being interrogated by the ICC's anti-corruption unit, McCullum labeled the interrogator's approach as 'casual.

" took notes - he did not record our conversation. He said he would get what I said down on paper and that it would probably end up at the bottom of the file with nothing eventuating.

"Looking back on this, I am very surprised by what I perceive to be a very casual approach to gathering evidence. I was reporting two approaches by a former international star of the game. I was not asked to elaborate on anything I said and I signed a statement that was essentially nothing more than a skeleton outline,” McCullum told MCC members at Lords, reported ESPNcricinfo.

He then compared their approach to how the Metropolitan Police handled the investigation. He said, "Suffice to say, they were streets ahead in terms of professionalism. They asked me so many questions, testing my memory, and took a much more comprehensive brief.

"I don't think either of us could ever have foreseen that my first statement would be used in a perjury trial in London four years after it was made. But the point I wish to make is that it must have been feasible that I would have to give evidence somewhere, sometime. 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 - that if evidence were to be given in the future and the witness did not put everything in that initial statement or changed what they said in any way, then this would likely impact on their credibility.

"When I made my first statement to the ICC, my impression was that it would be put in the bottom draw and never see the light of day again. No attempt was made to elicit a full and comprehensive statement from me on that occasion.

"I do wish that the ICC had handled my initial approach more professionally.”

McCullum's statement was leaked to English media Daily Mail, and the 34-year-old questioned why no one was held accountable for this leak. McCullum felt that the players will lose their confidence in the organization due to such incidents.

"No witness who has provided evidence to the ICC should ever have to go through such a scenario again. The leak has never been explained to me; to my knowledge no one has been held accountable and, in those circumstances, it is difficult to have confidence in the ICC.

"To report an approach and to give evidence requires considerable courage - players deserve much better. 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?

"It goes without saying that if players do not have confidence in the organisation, they will be reluctant to report approaches and the game is worse off. If we are to get rid of the scourge of match-fixing, a robust governing body is essential,” McCullum added, reported ESPNcricinfo.

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