CA gets police assistance called after confidential report leak

PTI, Dec 26, 2021, 3:05 PM IST

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley on Sunday said it has got the police involved after a confidential report on alleged drug use by a ”well-known” player was leaked to the media.

The Age newspaper reported on Sunday that it had received a recording of a phone call between a woman, who described herself as a ”high-class” escort, and Cricket Australia’s former integrity chief, Sean Carroll, in which she alleged a player was using cocaine and dancing naked on the balcony with numerous woman.

Hockley has dubbed the allegations surrounding the former player as ”unsubstantiated” and ”historical”.

”I saw the article this morning. Those reports are unsubstantiated,” Hockey told reporters.

”They are historical. Any stealing of confidential information is a crime. We have reported it and are getting assistance from Vic Police.

”It’s really important people are able to contact our integrity line in full confidence that it is going to be kept secure. Certainly our processes, we review them regularly, to ensure they are absolutely best practice.” The Melbourne daily said the recording had been sent to the paper via an encrypted email service from an anonymous address.

The source of the leak claimed to be a former CA staffer ”who wanted to expose flaws in its integrity unit”.

Carroll left CA a year ago.

The leak comes just over a month after Tim Paine resigned as Test captain on the eve of the Ashes and later stepped away from all forms of cricket, after it came to light that he was investigated for a sexting incident with a Cricket Tasmania colleague in 2017.

Hockley, meanwhile, said CA is committed to sending its team to Pakistan in March next year despite fresh COVID-19 concerns over the omicron strain.

Australia’s last tour to Pakistan took place 24 years ago, after which series between the two countries have only been played in Australia, UAE, and England because of security issues in Pakistan.

”We just had a (CA management) team go over to Pakistan. We are working closely with the PCB and all the authorities.

”It’s a really complex endeavor, we are very committed to touring. It is absolutely our intention to tour as long as it is safe to do so,” Hockley said.