Former cricketer Lou Vincent recently shared a deeply personal account of his struggles with depression and his involvement in match-fixing during his time in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL). Vincent revealed that during a particularly dark period in his life, he was searching for a sense of belonging and community.
“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 played only 23 Tests for New Zealand, besides featuring in 108 ODIs. His international career came to an early end at the age of 29 as he fought depression and got involved in match-fixing.
While it was difficult for Vincent to get out of the ‘gang’ running the fixing net, he found a way despite threats. “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’.
I have met many players who have been involved in fixing. Lou Vincent has done more than most to atone for what he did. Giving evidence against Cairns was difficult and took courage. He did that because he was trying to put things right. He deserved his sentence reduction.
— Steve Richardson (@Steve_Rich100) December 10, 2024
The ex cricketer also revealed how vulnerability led him to join a match-fixing syndicate, where he temporarily found the support he was seeking. Vincent in an interview with the The Telegraph said, “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.”
“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’.”
Lou Vincent’s fight against corruption in cricket
Despite the temporary relief, his actions led to lifetime bans from cricket, which were later reduced. He said admitting the wrongs he committed helped him heal. “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.
Today, Vincent is actively involved in anti-corruption programs, working to prevent others from making similar mistakes.
