McMillan slams Sunday Times report for lack of “concrete evidence” – Cricket News Update
Former New Zealand player, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Douglas-McMillan-c51683, has spoken out against the allegations of bookmakers in the recently published report in Sunday Times, claiming that they lack supporting evidence, and are likely to be nothing more than rumours.
The British newspaper recently published a report which revealed that Indian bookmakers are still very much active, and involved in fixing everything from international matches to English Country cricket. According to them, thousands of pounds are being invested in behind-the-scenes corruption – batsmen are offered as much as ₤44,000 for slow scoring, while bowlers can earn ₤50,000 for agreeing to concede a certain amount of runs, and even officials are offered ₤750,000 for guaranteeing the outcome of a particular match.
With the aid of an undercover reporter, a Delhi-based bookmaker was coaxed to admit that he had plans to fix matches in the upcoming Indian Premier League, for which he had turned down a deal he had been contemplating with several New Zealand players.
McMillan however, is convinced this is nothing more than “speculation”, and challenged the bookmakers to prove their allegations.
“We've heard all this before and the rumour-mill runs amok again," he said. “It is very easy to hide behind broad accusations but you need to have concrete evidence to deal with, not just idle speculation.”
In addition to admitting that several Kiwi players had agreed to meet him for the purpose of negotiating a match-fixing deal, another bookmaker revealed that he had fixed a match in 2010 with the aid of two (unnamed) players belonging to the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 team.
However, the 35-year-old Kiwi right-hander, who retired from the game in October 2007, claimed that he was unable to believe that any Black Cap would fall into such a trap after constantly being counseled against such actions.
“I would be really disappointed if it was proved that any New Zealander was involved. We were reminded time and again about our obligations and I can't believe anyone would be that stupid to risk their career and integrity,” he claimed.
The New Zealand Cricket board also reacted angrily to the reports, insisting that the claims had no credibility, and were nothing more than irresponsible accusations which were attempting to compromise the integrity of the game, as well as the reputations of the Kiwis.
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