Disgraced cricketer Lou Vincent has claimed he approached Murray Goodwin to help him fix Sussex matches.

Vincent said he asked Goodwin to rig a CB40 game against Kent at Hove in 2011 along with Naved Arif but the former Sussex batsmen refused.

Vincent met Goodwin in a pub where he broached the subject of match-fixing but the following day Goodwin rejected the idea by text.

The approach was reported to the authorities and Vincent and Arif were both banned from any involvement in cricket for life by the ECB last year.

Vincent was paid £60,000 by Indian fixing agent Varum Gandhi and Nasem Gulzar, an associate of Arif, for underperforming against Kent and gave £15,000 to Arif.

The former New Zealand batsman, who made the claims as a witness at the perjury trial of Chris Cairns at Southwark Crown Court yesterday, said: “I pretty much openly went straight to the point to find out whether he (Goodwin) would be willing to underperform in this game.

“I knew I was taking a massive risk but there was pressure from the bookie to go see Murray.

“I knew it was a massive risk but my headspace towards cricket was pretty negative at that time and I put the blinkers on and took that risk.

“Straight after the match Murray wasn’t happy, he didn’t look comfortable at all. The following day there was a conversation with Murray Goodwin, saying that action was going to be taken, he was going to report it.”

Vincent admitted that he lied in his statement after the Kent game but could not answer why that specific report was never taken any further.

He said he was approached by Gandhi shortly after he began playing for Sussex in 2011 having previously fixed matches at the request of Cairns in the ICL.

Gandhi asked him to underperform in the Twenty20 quarter-final against his former club Lancashire at Hove on August 8 but Vincent backed out of their agreement at the last minute.

Sussex lost the game against Kent with Vincent being run out for one and Arif taking 29 balls to score 11 after his six wicketless overs had cost 41 runs.