Ireland international and Sussex captain Ed Joyce has spoken of the anger felt by him and his team-mates over the match-fixing scandal involving former players Lou Vincent and Naveed Arif.
The Bray-born batsman was speaking publicly for the first time about the 14 charges brought against Vincent and six against Arif by the England and Wales Cricket Board after Sussex’s players and coaching staff met on Sunday to discuss the charges relating to two matches in August 2011.
Joyce understands that perceptions of Sussex could be tainted by the actions of Vincent and Arif.
“My reaction to these stories was anger. There was a lot of anger in the dressing room,” Joyce said.
“The question ‘does Sussex have a problem?’ is what comes when you get a couple of alleged bad apples in your team. People start questioning the things you do.
“We met on Sunday morning and there was a huge amount of anger there because everything we do as a team is about winning games.
“To think there could be people in your midst who aren’t doing everything they can to win is the worst thing you can do to a professional sports team.”
