WELLINGTON: The head of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit has described as “absolutely preposterous nonsense” claims it did a deal to shield New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum from punishment for his delay in reporting an alleged match-fixing approach.

“I can say, absolutely categorically, there were no deals done with Brendon McCullum,” Ronnie Flanagan said in a radio interview on Saturday.

Flanagan told New Zealand's Newstalk ZB that McCullum's “reputation is not sullied in my mind and I made that very clear to Brendon.”

A statement made by McCullum to the ACU in 2011, in which he claimed to have been approached in 2008 by a former teammate to fix matches, was leaked to British media last year.

Questions have since been raised about why the ACU took no action against McCullum for his three-year delay in reporting the alleged approach.

Flanagan denied that the ACU had entered into any deals with McCullum or New Zealand Cricket to withhold sanctions.

“This is absolute nonsense ... absolute, preposterous nonsense,” he said.

Flanagan said he accepted McCullum's reputation may have been harmed when his statement was leaked to a British newspaper and understood other cricketers might be reluctant to approach the ACU unless confidentiality was assured.

In December, McCullum said he stood by evidence he gave at the London perjury trial of former teammate Chris Cairns. In late November, Cairns was cleared of perjury and perverting the course of justice during a libel action about match-fixing at the end of a nine-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.