Brendon McCullum said that when he gave his first statement to ICC, the approach was so casual that he thought the file would never come out of the bottom draw again.
Former New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum who had submitted evidence of match-fixing against teammate Chris Cairns last year, criticised International Cricket Council (ICC) for its casual anti-corruption approach.
McCullum said that the first interview he gave to an official of ICC was casual, as reported by espncricinfo.com. "[He] 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."
After a nine-week trial in November 2015, Cairns was cleared of charges, but he alleged that his image was tarnished, even though he was cleared off the case.
McCullum, however, was not happy with the approach of ICC and compared them with the Metropolitan Police. "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."
McCullum was surprised to see that the first statement he had given to ICC four years ago would be brought up, owing to the way that it was taken. Wishing that they had handled it more professionally, he said, ""When I made my first statement to the ICC, my impression was that it would be put in the bottom drawer 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."
He also blasted at ICC when his evidence was leaked to the Daily Mail. McCullum said that if players do not have confidence left in their own organisation, they would hesitate to report and the game is bound to turn worse. "If we are to get rid of the scourge of match-fixing, a robust governing body is essential," he said.
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