by Our Sports Desk

Sussex professional cricket manager Mark Robinson admits the match-fixing scandal involving their former players Lou Vincent and Naveed Arif “sickens and disgusts us.”

Speaking publicly for the first time about the 14 charges brought against Vincent and six against Arif by the England and Wales Cricket Board, the county expressed their distress at the allegations.

Sussex’s players and coaching staff met on Sunday to discuss the charges relating to two matches in August 2011.

Captain Ed Joyce spoke of the anger felt in the changing room but the strongest words were delivered by Robinson.

“Obviously the last couple of weeks has been upsetting for everybody connected with the club and especially for the players and coaches involved in that period,” Robinson said.

“The stories we’ve read have caused a lot of distress. We’re all deeply shocked.

“The players’ ethos is based on a will to win with a togetherness than means everybody has to drive towards achieving the same goals.

“The thought that anybody among us, at any time, may have been working against that aim sickens and disgusts us.”

Robinson’s view was echoed by Joyce, who 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.”

The players, neither of whom play in England any more, have been suspended and face lifetime bans — effective worldwide — if the charges are proven.

The charges centre on a 40-over match between Sussex and Kent at Hove in August 2011, while Vincent is also charged in relation to a Twenty20 match between Sussex and Lancashire in the same month.

There is no suggestion that any other players from either Sussex, Kent or Lancashire were involved.

Sussex released a statement outlining that they worked very closely with the anti-corruption units of the International Cricket Council and ECB to establish the facts of what occurred in the two games under suspicion.