Cricket: Fears whistleblowers won't come forward

A smiling Chris Cairns outside Southwark Crown court after being found not guilty. Photo / Chris Gorman

Cricket officials have expressed fears the fall-out from the Chris Cairns trial may discourage whistleblowers from coming forward in future.

Cairns walked free from the Southwark Crown Court in the early hours of Tuesday morning (NZT) after being acquitted of perjury charges and perverting the course of justice following an eight-week trial in the UK.

The trial featured a cast of international cricketers giving evidence, including Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum and Lou Vincent, who formed the key pillars of the Crown's case against Cairns.

Other names to crop up during the trial were former New Zealand internationals Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond and Chris Harris, along with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

The sensational claims of corruption and match-fixing attracted worldwide media attention, putting the actions of all those involved under heavy scrutiny.

The head of the Professional Cricketers' Association Angus Porter is worried the trial will serve as a deterrent for players to report match fixing approaches in future.

"It doesn't encourage people to believe that if they come forward with information they are going to have a happy experience following on from that," Porter told the Daily Mail.

"People have seen how tough and challenging it can be, both in the witness box and in terms of how their reputation might or might be affected by it.

"It builds on a concern we've all had for some time that the process of reporting is one that asks a lot of people and doesn't give a huge amount back. It is important they don't feel they are going to be treated as a suspect or in some other way suffer personal damage, whether by reputation or otherwise."

Porter believes his organisation has done a good job of educating players as to their responsibilities around corruption issues.

"There have been some issues in recent times - the Bangladesh Premier League being an example - but by and large the evidence is that players are much more certain of their responsibilities," he said.

"We should feel, without being complacent, at least confident that people understand what they need to do."