Vincent tells of how syndicate lured him

LOU Vincent was motivated partly by greed and the feeling he could not say "no" to his "hero" to agree to get involved in fixing matches.

The former New Zealand top-order batsman, 35, was banned from cricket for life on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to 18 breaches of the England and Wales Cricket board's anti-corruption regulations in three matches in England. "I think I felt greedy for the first time in my life," he said yesterday.

"I thought 'yeah, I'm going to make some big money now, so stuff the world.'"

Vincent was approached while playing in a rebel Twenty20 competition in India in 2008. At a meeting with a businessman he was offered the services of a prostitute and a large stack of US dollars.

He said he realised what was being offered, turned both down and then met a friend he was playing with – who Vincent referred to as his hero – about the approach. "I remember him saying 'that's a good cover because now you're working for me'. There was no way I could say no, the person I was working for was a huge role model to me." He said he was then told what to do for each match.

However, he hit a six while attempting to get out as planned and said he knew he was in trouble.

He had been promised $50000 (R538000) per game and said he never saw any of the money, probably due to his error.

When he moved to England he was approached again. "I was .. told that I had to earn trust back with him [person he was working for in India] and his people ... I was told to underperform and prove that I was trustworthy." Vincent did what he was instructed and received payment for those performances, which ultimately led to him being charged by the ECB. – Reuters