Fixing Scandal!!!!!

[Kippax]

 

[SteveNZ]

He must have a remarkable combination of arrogance, courage and foolishness then, as well as very deep pockets - London libel lawyers fees are often mistaken for their telephone numbers

The only one I'd question whether he has in his kit bag is the last one.

Kip, those white Oakley sunnies were the dog's nuts around the late 90's. Wonderful

 

[uvelocity]

yeah i was just checking out those sunnies. had a pair. **** they look horrible now

 

[_Ed_]

Cairns has called a press conference for when he arrives at Auckland Airport at 12:20.
Chris Cairns announces surprise press conference - One News | TVNZ

 

[BeeGee]

Cairns has called a press conference for when he arrives at Auckland Airport at 12:20.
Chris Cairns announces surprise press conference - One News | TVNZ

I hope he spills the beans.

 

[SteveNZ]

I hope he spills the beans.

He won't be - already indicated it will be a pre-written statement he's reading out.

 

[hendrix]

As mentioned a few times already, there's no way he's admitting to anything because that would amount to perjury in the British court.

 

[BeeGee]

He won't be - already indicated it will be a pre-written statement he's reading out.

"I did not have fixual relations with that batsman."

 

[Binkley]

Cairns has read his press release:

Chris Cairns named Stephen Fleming, Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills as the three players who have given statements to the ICC regarding his alleged role in match-fixing.

Cairns arrived back in New Zealand today after spending the week in London with his lawyer Aaron Lloyd.

He describes the allegations ranged against him as "absurd, bizarre and scary".

He was questioned by the Metropolitan Police in relation to an investigation into possible match-fixing, with a view to the possibility he perjured himself in the defamation case Cairns v Modi in the High Court.

Cairns is one of three players, along with Daryl Tuffey and Lou Vincent, being investigated by the ICC's anti-corruption unit.

They played together in the short-lived Indian Cricket league for the Chandigarh Lions. Cairns and Tuffey have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Vincent has admitted he is fully co-operating with the investigation.

Cairns said he attempted to befriend a troubled Vincent in 2008, but Vincent had betrayed that friendship an was trying to mitigate against his own fixing.

"In 2008, he had a lot of problems that he has admitted to," Cairns said. "I endeavoured to become a friend to him in these difficult times. He has betrayed the friendship I offered him.

"He now seeks to portray himself as a whistleblower. He is nothing of the sort. The truth is he has been caught cheating and seeks to mitigate his sins by blaming others. The allegations he and his ex-wife make against me are despicable lies."

Cairns said Brendon McCullum, who also testified against Cairns after allegedly being approached, had waited until February 17, 2011, before reporting the alleged approach.

"It is beyond doubt that, regardless of what certain people have claimed recently in the media, Brendon McCullum waited three years before reporting this alleged approach to an ICC anti-corruption official," Cairns said.

"He alleges I approached him during the ICL tournament in March, 2008. It is misleading at the least for a host of people to claim he reported my alleged corrupt approach within a timely fashion or that there had been a small delay.

"Mr McCullum first made his allegations to the ICC's ACSU on 17 February, 2011. Not only was this nearly three years after the alleged approach, but importantly it is 13 months before the trial, in March, 2012, of my case in the London High Court against Lalit Modi about match-fixing.

"At that trial, every allegation that I was match-fixing, was shown to be false. It is extraordionary that Mr McCullum told the ACSU is February, 2011 that three years previously I approached him to match fix, yet neither he or the ACSU anti-corruption officer that took his statement, Mr John Rhodes, took that information to the ICC or informed Mr Modi or anyone else of this startling revelation."

Leaked testimony had him accusing a former teammate identified as Player X of co-opting him into fixing across different countries.

The Herald identified Player X as Cairns.

Stranger and stranger. I guess he has no option but to continue to defend himself and impugn others, because a guilty plea or outcome is going to ruin him in so many ways. If he is guilty though, he is really only making it much, much worse for himself when that final judgement comes.

 

[SteveNZ]

Cairns has read his press release:



Stranger and stranger. I guess he has no option but to continue to defend himself and impugn others, because a guilty plea or outcome is going to ruin him in so many ways. If he is guilty though, he is really only making it much, much worse for himself when that final judgement comes.

I guess whatever judgement comes in the end, it's irrelevant how much he tried to blame shift or tug people under with him. It wasn't like Armstrong got more of a punishment because he called people liars for so long.

He says that nameless, faceless people have being casting aspersions on him. Well yes they have - as well as named, faced people such as Brendon McCullum, a lot of his ICL team-mates including Lou Vincent, and now possibly Kyle and Dan who were on the 08 tour with Brendon and quite possibly have a lot to bring to the table.

Thing I don't understand is Cairns worked for SKY last season, in an environment where every single person would've known the allegations - some who probably felt they knew for a fact.

 

[Bahnz]

Just for the sake of clarity, none of Fleming, Vettori or Mills are claiming that Cairns attempted to bribe them to fix matches. They merely stated that Brendon McCullum spoke to them about Cairns' 2008 approach during the IPL.

 

[Binkley]

I guess whatever judgement comes in the end, it's irrelevant how much he tried to blame shift or tug people under with him. It wasn't like Armstrong got more of a punishment because he called people liars for so long.

He says that nameless, faceless people have being casting aspersions on him. Well yes they have - as well as named, faced people such as Brendon McCullum, a lot of his ICL team-mates including Lou Vincent, and now possibly Kyle and Dan who were on the 08 tour with Brendon and quite possibly have a lot to bring to the table.

Some aspects of his statement seemed very much designed by a lawyer. Reading between the lines and that lawyer seems to be saying "the only evidence presented to my client is that two people have made allegations that Cairns asked them to fix games. So I am going to start working right now to undermine their credibility by pointing out that one is a known cheat and the other way waited almost three years before making a formal statement. All I need to do is to put doubts in the judge's mind about the quality of those two pieces of evidence, because I know there ain't much else the other side's got."

By "he is making things worse" I mean, he is really burning his bridges to people like McCullum, Fleming and Vettori - the NZ cricketing establishment. He is also at risk of being shown to be a callous liar who is trying to throw a mentally unwell colleague under the bus in an attempt to save himself. The public don't mind a flawed but contrite hero too much (see Lou Vincent), but if Cairns is shown to be guilty then he is not just not-contrite - he will also be shown to be without shame and utterly disloyal.

 

[jcas0167]

Some aspects of his statement seemed very much designed by a lawyer. Reading between the lines and that lawyer seems to be saying "the only evidence presented to my client is that two people have made allegations that Cairns asked them to fix games. So I am going to start working right now to undermine their credibility by pointing out that one is a known cheat and the other way waited almost three years before making a formal statement. All I need to do is to put doubts in the judge's mind about the quality of those two pieces of evidence, because I know there ain't much else the other side's got."

By "he is making things worse" I mean, he is really burning his bridges to people like McCullum, Fleming and Vettori - the NZ cricketing establishment. He is also at risk of being shown to be a callous liar who is trying to throw a mentally unwell colleague under the bus in an attempt to save himself. The public don't mind a flawed but contrite hero too much (see Lou Vincent), but if Cairns is shown to be guilty then he is not just not-contrite - he will also be shown to be without shame and utterly disloyal.

What is the prospect of him being jailed if he admitted it now? I mean he would be basically admitting to perjury, so could be extradited from NZ to England to face charges? I guess Jeffrey Archer did time for perjury (also from an earlier libel trial) so it's quite a realistic sentencing prospect. He's got a wife and young daughter in NZ.

Between a rock and a hard place.

 

[Bahnz]

Yeah, in my opinion the fact that he seems so unhesitant to permanently burn all bridges that he may have had left with New Zealand Cricket (which until a few months ago had remained just about the only hope he had of picking up gainful employment), only makes it more obvious that he knows he's been caught and is panicking about going to jail.

 

[Binkley]

What is the prospect of him being jailed if he admitted it now? I mean he would be basically admitting to perjury, so could be extradited from NZ to England to face charges? I guess Jeffrey Archer did time for perjury (also from an earlier libel trial) so it's quite a realistic sentencing prospect. He's got a wife and young daughter in NZ.

I have wondered about that. New Zealand law only allows us to extradite someone if they are charged with an offence that may result in a term of imprisonment of one year or longer; and involves conduct that would be regarded as criminal had it occurred in NZ and would result in a similar penalty here. The second part at least is not met whatever fixing Cairns may have done - fixing is not yet a criminal offence here. So there doesn't seem to be any way Cairns could be extradited even if the UK authorities wanted him to be.

PS Not a lawyer - so I could easily be wrong in my reading of the law.

Edit: PPS - however, while fixing may not be crime here, perjury is. So extradition may be an option if that is the legal path the UK decides to follow.

 

[hendrix]

What he's suggesting is that Vincent, McCullum, Fleming, Vettori and the ICL players are part of a smear campaign, probably orchestrated by Modi. It's pretty unbelievable, but there are some potential lines which his lawyer might spout off on:

1. Fleming, McCullum are business partners, and Vettori is McCullum's close friend.
2. McCullum, Fleming and Vettori are working and coaching in the IPL, therefore may have "dark political ties" etc.
3. The ICL players could be perceived to be easy to pay off.

By "he is making things worse" I mean, he is really burning his bridges to people like McCullum, Fleming and Vettori - the NZ cricketing establishment.

Think that bridge would've been burned long before he talks crap about them, to be honest.

 

[Bahnz]

What he's suggesting is that Vincent, McCullum, Fleming, Vettori and the ICL players are part of a smear campaign, probably orchestrated by Modi.

As mentioned above, Fleming, Vettori and Mills don't need to be apart of the conspiracy, as all they've done is confirmed is that McCullum spoke to them about Cairns' approach. Not that I consider McCullum being a part of a shadowy conspiracy to bring Cairns down any more likely. If he was, why didn't he come to testify against Cairns during the 2012 trial?

 

[Howsie]

Haha. Your've got to laugh how everything in New Zealand cricket always revolves around Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills. I mean ffs, how does this even involve them again. Mean Girls, the NZC version. Just stick to bullying younger players and putting yourselves into positions to improve your brand.

 

[kiwiviktor81]

Cairns has read his press release:



Stranger and stranger. I guess he has no option but to continue to defend himself and impugn others, because a guilty plea or outcome is going to ruin him in so many ways. If he is guilty though, he is really only making it much, much worse for himself when that final judgement comes.

I reckon Cairns has been all-in since he first denied the claims, some years back.

 

[Blocky]

Ultimately.

- I'm not surprised at all if Lou Vincent is trying to make his involvement seem less than it actually was and casting dispersions on other players to try and limit the damage to himself. Lou obviously acted in a "leading capacity" in the way he fixed certain county games and its all too easy for him to simply say "But I was just the lackey"

- While you could argue that Vettori, McCullum and Fleming are all in positions where they would communicate with Modi frequently due to their roles in the IPL, it takes a certain amount of cynicism to think all three can be bought off into telling a story that is fabricated.

- The release to the media from the ICC has created a circus in which Cairns knows his best position is to basically point out how badly flawed the process has been, how the accusations have been managed and raised and how despite his Cairns vs Modi court case being one that ACSU had people testify in, none of these accusations were raised at that time.

- Cairns is basically using the media to make this a circus and create technicality based arguments, meaning I'm highly doubtful he will ever be formally charged or convicted of any match fixing. I do not think for a second there will be any exoneration for him but basically the process has been so flawed that without his direct admission of guilt, he knows that circumstantially there are too many questions to find beyond reasonable doubt that he was involved in match fixing.