Wellington, New Zealand – New Zealand Cricket says it is “dismayed” that testimony given by Brendon McCullum to anti-corruption investigators has been leaked to a British newspaper and expressed total confidence in the Test captain.
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reported Sunday that McCullum told investigators he was offered more than 100,000 British pounds by a former star player to underperform. McCullum is reported to have said he was “really shocked” at the approach because the player involved was “a good friend” and a hero to him.
New Zealand Cricket released a statement Monday to support McCullum. It said “we can confirm that Brendon is not under investigation by the ICC and his testimony has actually been applauded by them. NZC has 100 percent confidence in our captain and his role in tackling corruption.”
McCullum told investigators he was twice approached by the star player, who has not been named, and was invited to participate in the fixing of matches. He rebuffed both approaches but did not immediately report them to anti-corruption authorities.
New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said Monday he believed McCullum had acted properly and was confident he would face no sanctions over any delay in reporting the approaches.
“He's not under investigation and his testimony has been applauded by the ICC,” White said. “He was approached and he rebuffed those approaches and he reported it to the ICC.
“We believe he's done the right thing and we've got 100 percent confidence in our captain and his role in tackling corruption,” he added. “We understand there might have been a small delay in reporting the approaches but we know this has been canvassed by the ICC and they have no issues with it, at all.” – Sapa-AP