Former Nantwich CC cricketer Lou Vincent has been banned from the sport worldwide for life after admitting match-fixing.
The New Zealander, who led Nantwich to the Cheshire League title in 2010, went on television to make a full confession.
Just before his punishment was announced, he said on tv: “My name is Lou Vincent and I am a cheat.
“I have shamed my country. I have shamed my sport. I have shamed those close to me. For that I am not proud.”
Vincent (pictured), 35, played at Whitehouse Lane in 2009 and 2010 and scored 2,141 runs and took 80 wickets.
But now he will no longer be allowed to coach or participate in organised cricket after breaching 18 anti-corruption rules in matches played in 2008 and 2011.
The ban has been imposed by the England and Wales Cricket Board and applies to matches sanctioned by the ECB, the International Cricket Council or any other national cricket federation.
In his statement on TV3, Vincent added: “I have abused my position as a professional sportsman on a number of occasions by choosing to accept money through fixing.
“I have lived with this dark secret for many years, but just months ago I reached the point where I decided I had to come forward and tell the truth.”
Vincent played 23 Tests and 102 one-day internationals for New Zealand between 2001-2007, appeared in county cricket in England for Sussex, Lancashire, Northamptonshire and Worcestershire, as well as club cricket in the ECB Cheshire Premier League for Nantwich and Oxton.
He has admitted to match-fixing offences in two domestic Twenty20 games involving Lancashire – one while playing for the Red Rose against Durham in June 2008, when he scored just one run, and another in opposition for Sussex in 2011.
That 2011 match was a quarter-final and Vincent was caught behind first ball off Sajid Mahmood. The third match under scrutiny was a CB40 fixture in which he played for Sussex against Kent and was run out.
Vincent has accepted the life ban from all forms of cricket.
In a statement, ECB chief executive David Collier said: “We are extremely pleased that an individual who repeatedly sought to involve others in corrupt activity for his own personal gain has accepted his conduct warrants a lifetime ban from cricket.
“It once again highlights our resolve to keep cricket clean and rid the game of the tiny minority who seek to undermine the sport’s integrity. ”
(pic courtesy of TV3)
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