For the first time in my life I was greedy, says banned Lou Vincent

Lou Vincent

Wellington: In his first interview since being handed a life ban for corruption, former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent said he was driven by greed, disappointment with how his international career ended and with the pressure of saying "no" to his hero.

Speaking to New Zealand's TV 3, Vincent said: "I think I felt greedy for the first time in my life."

Lou Vincent of the New Zealand Black Caps. PIC/Getty Images

Lured by big bucks
"I left New Zealand pretty heartbroken and a bit angry at the system. And as the match fixing world opened up to me, I thought: ‘Yeah, I'm going to make some big money now, so stuff the world'."

Vincent was approached by bookies during the now-defunct Indian Cricket League in 2008. He turned them down and met a friend - who he called his ‘hero'.

"I remember him saying: ‘That's a good cover because now you're working for me,'" Vincent said.

"That's when I realised: ‘Wow this is happening, there's no turning back.' There was no way I could say no, the person I was working for was a huge role model to me."

He explained how the match fixing mechanics worked: "It's pretty simple - what you can control is to under-perform.

In my case because I was at the top of the order it was bat 20 balls and score 10-15 runs then get out. Simple as that."

He had been promised USD 50,000 per game but didn't see a penny of it, probably due to an error in one match, the TV 3 report said.