23 May,2014 10:58 AM IST | | PTI
Disgraced New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent today said he is ready to be held accountable for his actions and has not made a plea bargain to escape tough punishment
Wellington: Disgraced New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent, who stands accused of fixing two county matches in England, today said he is ready to be held accountable for his actions and has not made a plea bargain to escape tough punishment.
Former New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent
In a statement issued through his lawyer Chris Morris, Vincent said he has received the 14 charges of corruption against him by the England and Wales Cricket Board. "Lou Vincent confirms that overnight he received charges from the English Cricket Board. He will work through these and the process for dealing with the charges as required by the ECB," his lawyer stated. "He further confirms the charges arise from the matters he has disclosed to the authorities, and he remains accountable for his actions of the past. "The fact of the charges, and more are likely, dispel any notions of a plea bargain having been done as unfortunately appears to be wrongly suggested by others," the statement read.
In a first of its kind case, Vincent and his former Sussex county team-mate Naved Arif were charged by the ECB for fixing the outcome of a county match in 2011. Vincent, who has already confessed to fixing and has been under investigation by ICC's ACSU, was charged with a total of 14 offences in relation to two county matches played under the ECB's jurisdiction in August 2011 -- a T20 match between Sussex and Lancashire and a 40-over game between Sussex and Kent.
Arif, a Pakistani living in England, was charged under the ECB's Anti-Corruption Code, with six offences in relation to the 40-over game between Sussex and Kent in August 2011. Both players have been provisionally suspended from all cricketing activities organised, authorised or supported by the ECB, ICC, any other National Cricket Federation and member of any other National Cricket Federation, the ECB said in a statement yesterday.
The charges, which were issued by the ECB, rather than the ICC, came just days after Vincent had given anti-corruption detectives details of fixing rackets across the cricketing world.
