Lou Vincent's ex-wife among witnesses pointing to Cairns as match-fixing 'Player X'

Former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent's ex-wife is among three witnesses whose evidence is said to support claims by Vincent that it was former all-rounder Chris Cairns who introduced him to bookmakers during the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2008 and who organised the spot fixing.

This comes at a time when an embarrassed ICC apologises for the leaks that have emerged from its investigation, including evidence from Vincent and current New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who reportedly claimed that he was approached by a 'Player X' who was his hero in India and England to fix matches.

According to News.com.au, Vincent's earlier claims have been backed up by his former wife Elly Riley in a statement to ICC's anti-corruption unit, which indicates that Cairns is the driving force behind cricket's widespread fixing scandal.

Riley said that Vincent told her in 2008 that Cairns was going to pay him 50,000 dollars a game for the fixing, adding that later she was called up by a crying Vincent, who was saying that he had just 'lost' Cairns 250,000 dollars as he 'got things wrong'.

Riley confirmed Vincent's account that the fixing continued in the English county scene and that she confronted Cairns later that year in Manchester who told her nobody would be caught and everybody was doing it.

At that stage Cairns was, according to Riley, attempting to lure in more players so he could make more money.