Lou Vincent admits bookie approach

Lou Vincent, the former New Zealand batsman, has admitted to the tribunal investigating corruption in the Bangladesh Premier League that he was approached by an illegal bookmaker during the 2013 season. While a member of the tribunal said Vincent had pleaded guilty to not reporting the approach, the batsman said his mistake had ended there and he had rejected the offer.

"I can confirm that I admitted a breach in January 2014 of the ICC code in failing to report an approach from a bookmaker whilst playing in the Bangladesh T20 league in January 2013," Vincent said in a statement. "I confirm I rejected this approach at the time. There is no allegation or suggestion anything untoward occurred beyond the approach itself. I also express I have no involvement in any of the matches, or matters, involving the other parties,which were the subject of recent hearings and investigation in Bangladesh."

Vincent played eight matches for Khulna Royal Bengals in the 2013 BPL season.

One of the three members on the BPL tribunal, Shakil Kasem, told AFP that Vincent had pleaded guilty to not reporting an illegal approach. He also said Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful, who had publicly admitted his involvement in corruption, and another unnamed international cricketer had also pleaded guilty.

"We're going to review their guilty pleas, deliberate on that and come up with sanctions within two weeks," Kasem said.

On February 26, the BPL tribunal released its findings and found only one owner of Dhaka Gladiators guilty of "being party to an effort to fix" a match in the league. Six others were found not guilty, but both the ICC and Bangladesh Cricket Board said they were "disappointed" by the outcome and may yet consider an appeal.

Vincent's involvement in an ACSU investigation had come to light in December 2013 when the New Zealand Herald reported that three former New Zealand cricketers were under scrutiny.