London meeting chance to answer latest allegations but ASCU unlikely to be involved.
Chris Cairns now gets the chance he has sought for weeks ... to tell his side of the story.
However, it's unlikely to be to the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU).
In a case with concurrent investigations, law enforcement agencies have primacy. The ACSU has no remit to make arrests or charge people for alleged crimes.
Cairns has a signed guarantee he will not be detained, so yesterday travelled to London to conclude his interview with the Metropolitan Police. He's expected to return to New Zealand next week.
Cairns has always maintained no involvement in any form of match-fixing.
"Chris Cairns is meeting with the Met police to conclude the interview he started and is also hoping to meet with the ICC anti-corruption unit," Cairns' lawyer Aaron Lloyd told the Herald on Sunday yesterday.
The latter request seems unlikely.
Once Cairns has negotiated his way through Heathrow Airport this afternoon (NZ time), he will get the opportunity to address several issues that have puzzled, confused and intrigued cricket fans, most notably:
What motive could Brendon McCullum have inventing fictitious testimony against Cairns?
Cricket: McCullum stands by testimony
All it took was one word to ensure the future of cricket's credibility would come down to a battle between Brendon McCullum and Player X.
When asked whether he stood by his testimony to the ICC's anti-corruption unit (ACSU), McCullum ...
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NOW PLAYING • Cricket: McCullum stands by testimony
All it took was one word to ensure the future of cricket's credibility would come down to a battle between Brendon McCullum and Player X.
When asked whether he stood by his testimony to the ICC's anti-corruption unit (ACSU), McCullum ...
2.
What does Cairns know about the contents of a recording between Lou Vincent and Cairns' friend and former legal adviser Andrew Fitch-Holland discussing match-fixing by Cairns' Indian Cricket League team the Chandigarh Lions. The exact details of the recording, taken before Cairns' successful 2012 defamation case against former Indian Premier League impresario Lalit Modi, are unknown.
3. Who or where are the "dark forces at play" which Cairns referred to in an earlier statement?
4. How does he explain the testimony from Vincent's ex-wife Elly Riley?
The news of Cairns' departure comes after a tumultuous week when the Herald revealed Cairns as the player named as Player X in evidence to the international cricket inquiry.
Cricket Herald: Match fixing saga
Updated opinion and analysis from Dylan Cleaver and Andrew Alderson from the New Zealand Herald on the match-fixing saga gripping the cricket world. ...
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NOW PLAYING • Cricket Herald: Match fixing saga
Updated opinion and analysis from Dylan Cleaver and Andrew Alderson from the New Zealand Herald on the match-fixing saga gripping the cricket world. ...
Cairns has since issued two statements. In the first he said: "These allegations against me are a complete lie".
He added: "I have nothing to hide. I have been to court to demonstrate conclusively that I am not a match fixer before. I will have no hesitation in doing so again."
In the second statement he said: "I totally reject the allegations against me and I will prove this. However, I think it is very dangerous to try to do this through the media and court of public opinion, where it is impossible to present all the information and facts. I am therefore committed to concluding my interview with the Met Police as soon as possible and will work through the proper channels to, once again, prove my innocence.
"I just ask people to remember that, as yet, the ICC have still not so much as interviewed me and that what is circulating in the public domain is barely one side of the story. There is a long journey ahead."
Meanwhile, Therese Walsh, the New Zealand boss for the 2015 World Cup, has no fears about match-fixing tainting the event being hosted by Australia and New Zealand, starting in February.
"We've had presentations from the ICC anti-corruption unit who briefed us comprehensively on all aspects of the World Cup," Walsh said. "The fact the government has also now put in place legislation to guard against match-fixing is a real positive.
"I have full confidence in the pride and passion of the teams, like the joy on the faces of the Afghanistan team when they arrived back after qualifying to be met by thousands of joyous fans at Kabul airport. Surely that's got to count for something."
