Chris Cairns ordered me to fix matches; Dinesh Mongia, Darryl Tuffey also involved, claims Lou Vincent

Vincent claimed that he was acting under direct instructions from Chris Cairns

Tainted former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent has sensationally claimed that his former teammate Darryl Tuffey as well as former Indian cricketer Dinesh Mongia used to fix matches in the now defunct Indian Cricket League, ESPNCricinfo reports. The 36-year-old also claimed that he was under the direct orders of Chris Cairns to do the same while playing under his captaincy for the Chandigarh Lions in the T20 league.

He was speaking at the Chris Cairns’ perjury trial, the proceedings of which had begun at a London court last week. Vincent, who was last year banned for life from all cricket after admitting his involvement in match-fixing, is a witness in the perjury case pertaining to Cairns’ successful libel action against former IPL chief Lalit Modi in 2012 and told Sasha Wass QC at Southwark Crown Court that it Cairns who lured him into match-fixing.

"I was under direct orders from Chris Cairns to be involved in match-fixing. I looked up to Chris, he was a role model," Vincent said. "All of a sudden I had been invited into this little world. There was (some) talk of the tournament and how every game is going to be fixed."

Vincent said that he was initially approached to fix matches by an Indian bookmaker called Varun Gandhi, who offered him a huge sum of money as well as the services of a woman to bring him under the cover. He claimed that he initially reported the approach to his agent, Leanne McGoldrick, before making the incident known to Cairns, who came up with a response that shocked Vincent.

"'You have done the right thing'," Vincent claimed Cairns had told him. "Right, you are working for me now, that will act as good cover'. That was how the whole introduction of being asked to match-fix for Chris Cairns happened," Vincent said.

I didn't master the art of getting out very well: Vincent

Opening up about the way in which he used to carry out Cairns’ instructions, Vincent claims he found it hard to mask the fact that he was deliberately underperforming.

"I was under instructions to fix. When you are underperforming you just play dead-bat shots, play more defensive, you can control your scoring tempo, but the actual art of getting out is actually quite hard,” he said. "One of the easiest ways is to get run out, hit the ball to a fielder and keep running. Try to get stumped. Miss a straight ball.”

"I didn't master the art of getting out very well. Cairns suggested if I was playing club cricket in England I practise the art of getting out."

Dinesh Mongia denies charges of match-fixing

Dinesh Mongia denied the match-fixing allegations raised at him by Vincent

Vincent went on to claim that two of his teammates at Chandigarh Lions – fast bowler Daryl Tuffey and all-rounder Dinesh Mongia – were also involved in fixing matches. Incidentally, Mongia was suspended by the ICL due to alleged disciplinary issues, the details of which were never disclosed.

The Punjab cricketer, who played 57 ODIs and 1 T20 for India, however, denied the allegations raised at him.

"What he (Vincent) said is incorrect. I was not involved in any match-fixing. I played for the Chandigarh Lions, but I don't know what the New Zealanders (Cairns, Tuffey and Vincent) were doing," Mongia told PTI, as reported by the Times of India.