“So I didn’t have the mental package to be a professional sports player. So at 28 I was deeply in depression and then went to India, and was dragged, sucked into that fixing world. It was pretty easy to see how it happened,” Vincent told ‘The Telegraph’ in a candid conversation.

“I felt like I was part of a gang. It almost made me feel better, because I am thinking: ‘I am part of a match-fixing gang, I am with a group that’s going to have my back and nobody knows our little secret,’ he added.

“I think that’s how most bike gangs work with young kids. Yeah, they sort of groom young kids into ‘we’ll look after you but go drive that car through the shop and smash it up‘.” he concluded.

Vincent even revealed that he felt alone as he was growing in his teen years. He was low on his confidence level as he used to get low scores, and people often used to take advantage of this weakness.

“I literally raised myself from the age of 12, so I was always quite malleable to people around me. Because I wanted to be loved, you’re easily led astray,” he recalled.

“And, you know, that contributed massively towards my professional career of just wanting to be liked, wanting to be loved, and sort of sharing how I was feeling on tour,” he added.

Though Vincent did not get any sort of direct threat from the other people who were involved in the allegations of match-fixing, he was still aware of the dangers that lurked for him.

“When you’re in that world, it’s hard to get out. There’s always a very underlying threat of ‘we know you, we know your kids’. You know, there’s never a direct threat. But they make it very clear that they’re involved with some pretty heavy underground gangs. And, ‘you owe us, and you always will owe us’. Even if you’ve completed the fixing, they own you. It’s hard to get out, and the only way to get out was literally the way I did (confess),” said the 46-year-old.

Vincent shared his thanks to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), as they helped him coming in terms with his past. ECB has handed 11 life bans for match-fixing. The board has allowed him to play a role in domestic cricket last year.

“Coming clean and approaching the players’ association and telling them what was happening, ‘where do we go from here?’, was the start of turning it around. The ECB were great to deal with. It’s taken a good decade but you can’t rush healing. It is still a daily check sometimes. But those moments of going down are very short now instead of it being hours or days or weeks,” he said.

Vincent made his Test debut in 2001, and scored a century against Australia in Perth. He has scores 1,332 runs from 23 Test matches. In 102 ODIs, he has scored 2,413 runs. He has also played 9 T20Is and scored 174 runs.

The post ‘Was Deeply in Depression…’: Former New Zealand batter speaks up on How he got Involved in Match-Fixing appeared first on Cricket Country.

This decision was made by ECB because they believe it will protect the quality of domestic cricket. According to a story on Telegraph, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is an exception from this restriction.

Though some people are worried that elite players will quit playing Test cricket in order to to play in the franchise competition, the ECB on the other hand thinks this move will raise the standard of domestic cricket.

According to a previous report by the Telegraph, the ECB will discontinue giving NOCs to the players for franchise league which will conflict with domestic cricket, unless they have a white-ball contract. On top of all this, ECB will also not allow players to participate in other leagues if they conflict with T20 Blast of The Hundred.

“We need to protect the integrity of our sport and the strength of our competitions in England and Wales as well. This policy gives clarity to players and professional counties around our approach to issuing No Objection Certificates. It will enable us to strike the right balance between supporting players who want to take up opportunities to earn and gain experience, while also protecting the integrity of cricket globally, ensuring we don’t undermine our own ECB competitions, and managing the welfare of centrally contracted England players,” said Rickard Gould, ECB Chief as per Telegraph.

Since franchise leagues are a massive source of income for players, this decision has resulted in the players being in serious trouble. It was feared that several of the England’s top cricketers might skip the domestic season to play T20 league, however the players are in for a difficult time since ECB’s suspension.

The post Big hit to Pakistan Cricket Board before Champions Trophy, England players Banned from participation from Pakistan Super League appeared first on Cricket Country.

Considering the pitch and conditions in Rawalpindi, the visitors have made two changes in their team for the last game. Rehan Ahmed and Gus Atkinson have been brought in on the place of pacers Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts.

🔒Locked in: Our XI for the final Test pic.twitter.com/RNn82j4ZD4

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 22, 2024

England will be ambitious to secure a series victory just like how they did in 2022, where they won 3-0. This gives the Englanders an opportunity to make history as they win back-to-back series wins in Pakistan.

The post ECB’s announcement- 2 changes in Playing XI for 3rd Test against Pakistan appeared first on Cricket Country.

Buttler was originally included in the squad for the West Indies tour, but it was due to his ongoing recovery that he had to miss the ODI series. However, he is supposed to be back by the time the five-match T20 series begins in Barbados on November 9.

Lancashire made this news official as they announced Livingstone as the official leader of the squad for the West Indies tour.

“Liam Livingstone will step in as captain for the ODI series with the Lancashire all-rounder set to lead England for the first time whilst Jos Buttler continues his recovery from injury,” read the statement from Lancashire cricket.

The post As Jos Buttler is Ruled out of West Indies series, ECB names Liam Livingstone as new ODI captain appeared first on Cricket Country.

The format and schedule of the tournament remain uncertain, and the finals may even be moved to Pakistan in case India qualifies. The lack of clarity with Champions Trophy 2025 has caused concerns for other cricket boards, especially the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, has stated that a Champions Trophy without the involvement of Pakistan or India would not be financially stable.

“(Play) without India? I wouldn’t have thought so. If you play the Champions Trophy without India or Pakistan, the broadcast rights aren’t there, and we need to protect them. It would not be in cricket’s interests for India not to be playing in the Champions Trophy. We’re all waiting to understand whether India are going to travel,” said Gould in a chat with belfasttelegraph.

“That’s the key. I know Pakistan are expecting India to travel but there are lots of different alternatives and contingencies available if that doesn’t happen. Hopefully we can have the fullest possible competition in Pakistan, this is a big moment for the country. If that’s not possible, we know there are options available. There’s geopolitics and then there’s cricketing geopolitics. I think they’ll find a way. They have to find a way. There are always security concerns in this part of the world when those two countries play each other. That will probably drive the key decisions,” he added.

The post Strong warning by ECB during issues regarding Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan appeared first on Cricket Country.

Brendon McCullum is the one to have received this opportunity. He is currently the head coach of the England Test team as well, and will continue to be till the end of 2027.

He is going to take over England’s Test cricket team starting from January 2025. His assignment will begin with India tour for ODI and T20 series.

He is also going to be the coach in the ICC Champions Trophy.

Brendon joined the England team after his time as being the head coach of the India Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

The post ECB Appoints Brendon McCullum as white-ball coach appeared first on Cricket Country.

The ICC currently has 16 members since there is not a Women’s director as of now. During the stage of nomination, Shah got backed up by 15 of the 16 members, and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was the one who quietly observed everything during the whole process of nomination.

As per a report, when boards like the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) were in support of Shah being appointed, PCB remained silent on the matter.

“There wasn’t any word from PCB. Not that it was required because Shah had overwhelming support from the members. But the Pakistan board preferred to play the role of a spectator during the entire process,” told a source.

The post PCB Remained silent During Jay Shah’s Nomination as ICC Chairman appeared first on Cricket Country.

“World Cups are always special events to be involved in as a player and I’m really excited by the squad we have selected to take over to the UAE. It’s an honour to lead the team into another World Cup. We’re looking forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead,” said Heather Knight.

England is in Group B with Bangladesh, South Africa, Scotland and West Indies. The team is going to be going to Abu Dhabi in order to take a training camp from 13 to 24 September before beginning the official ICC warm-up games.

The post England’s 15-player Team Announced for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024- Also Includes Highest Wicket-taker from 2023 appeared first on Cricket Country.

While the BCCI has successfully managed to continue the IPL for 17 years, other cricket boards are still trying to figure things out. The ECB recently introduces The Hundred a couple years ago, as a new format trying to captivate cricket fans.

Despite its success in the initial phase, The Hundred has struggled to bring viewers this year. Vaughan blamed this decline to be the reason of bad scheduling. He said that ECB made the decision to run The Hundred along with the Paris Olympics 2024, which mad a significant impact in the viewers retention and interest.

Vaughan advised the ECB to take another look at their strategy and make choices about scheduling for future to prevent similar difficulties.

“I’ll be honest about this year’s Hundred. I think the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) screwed up. I think they put it up against the Olympics. I just think that the scheduling of this year’s Hundred was poor. When you think, you are trying to sell it for a lot of money. I think the ECB have got to make it very, very kind of brutal call. I don’t think there should be bilateral one day series anymore,” said Vaughan.

The post England Legend Michael Vaughan Lashes out at ECB for Scheduling Blunder of The Hundred 2024 appeared first on Cricket Country.

According to a report in “The Sydney Morning Herald,” the plan, which was put forth by Cricket Australia (CA), has the backing of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, who is the front-runner to be the next ICC Chairman.

The fund would pay for sending teams on abroad trips and raise the minimum match salary for Test players. It would help national teams like the West Indies, which presently find it difficult to match the pay packages offered by international T20 competitions.

“The fund would ensure a minimum Test payment for all players, thought to be USD 10,000, and pay the costs of overseas tours for struggling countries,” the report stated.

“It’s fantastic to see some momentum behind the Test match fund,” CA chairman Mike Baird, who floated the concept in January, said.

“We need to take away the barriers and encourage Test cricket to be the best of the best. To retain that history and that legacy, which goes alongside the newer forms of white ball cricket,” he added.

Since India, Australia, and England are the three richest cricketing nations and already pay their players high incomes, it seems unlikely that the fund will help them.

But the report also stated that the amount of funding made available by the ICC for Test cricket will probably also hinge on a disagreement with broadcaster Star.

The Star network wants to renegotiate a broadcast agreement with the ICC for 2022 and cut the deal’s worth in half from the more over USD three billion initial cost.

Earlier in the year, the BCCI implemented an incentive program for the men’s Test cricket players in India with the aim of motivating them to focus on the longest format of the game and rewarding their constant efforts.

In addition to the Test match fees of Rs 15 lakh, a player who participates in at least 75% of India’s Test matches within its yearly cycle, which runs from October to September, will receive an incredible Rs 45 lakh each match under the new program.

Players who appear in between 50 and 75 percent of games would receive a bonus of Rs 30 lakh every time they play. If they are chosen for the squad, the non-playing members will receive half of the total compensation.

The post ICC Set to Launch Multi-Million Dollar Fund to Revitalize Test Cricket appeared first on Cricket Country.