EX-ENGLAND CRICKETER Chris Lewis could have fallen into the temptation of smuggling drugs because of his taste for the finer things in life

EX-ENGLAND CRICKETER Chris Lewis could have fallen into the temptation of smuggling drugs because of his taste for the finer things in life, a former team mate has said. Lewis, 41, was given a 13-year prison term for drug smuggling last week, along with ex-basketball player Chad Kirnon. Angus Fraser, who played with Lewis during their England days, said: ‘Chris liked the nice things in life, the clothes and the cars, but once his playing days were over, his means of income was reduced. He needed the money and it appears he got dragged into something like this. Its very sad.’ Fraser said Lewis’ case should warn all players to always have a plan for how they will live their lives when they leave sport. ‘This highlights how difficult it can be for players to cope once they stop playing cricket,’ he wrote on the Cricinfo website. ‘They get used to a certain standard of living, and a lot of cricketers dont plan for what to do when they stop playing.’ Customs officials at London’s Gatwick caught Lewis and Kirnon carrying dissolved cocaine, worth £140,000, in cans of fruit juice after they came off a flight from St Lucia.

Lewis told Croydon Crown Court, in south London: “I thought I was carrying fruit juice. That is the only reason that I took those cans for Mr Kirnon. Ive never smuggled cocaine, or any other drug.”

But Judge Nicholas Ainley was not convinced. “You made it to the top of your profession. This was greed. You deduced that the risk was worth it,” he said. Lewis played 32 Tests and 53 one-day internationals for England.