Cricket Australia lodges formal complaint with police over leaked report

The Australian cricket team is performing exceptionally well in the ongoing Ashes series. However, the off-field story is a little different. Just before the start of the Ashes, former captain Tim Paine resigned from his position over a sexting scandal. It was also reported that the matter was investigated back in 2017 and Paine was given a clean chit.

Paine then went on to take a break from all forms of cricket for the “foreseeable future” citing mental helath issues. Pat Cummins was later appointed as team’s captain and Steven Smith was picked to be his deputy. Under Cummins’ captaincy, Australia defeated England in the first Ashes Test.

Meanwhile, A new controversy emerged on December 26 after The Age newspaper reported that it had received a recording of a phone call between a woman who described herself as an “escort,” and Cricket Australia’s former integrity chief, Sean Carroll. In the call, she alleged that one of the team members was using cocaine and dancing naked on the balcony with numerous women.

Cricket Australia’s chief executive Nick Hockley told reporters on Sunday that police are helping the governing body. He also admitted that the leak was a part of a confidential report that was submitted by the organization to its anti-corruption unit. Hockley also said the woman’s report was “unsubstantiated” and “historical.”

“I saw the article this morning. Those reports are unsubstantiated,” Hockey said. “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,” he added.

Whistleblower claims to be former CA staffer

The newspaper has said that it received the recording from an anonymous address via encrypted mail. Also, the whistle-blower claimed to be a former CA staffer who wanted to expose flaws in its integrity unit. Carol left Cricket Australia a year ago.

During the interaction, Hockey also mentioned that CA is committed to sending the Australian team to Pakistan to play a Test series in March next year despite concerns over the omicron strain.

“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 endeavour, we are very committed to touring. It is absolutely our intention to tour as long as it is safe to do so,” Hockley said.