Corruption, document leaks, mysterious and elusive individuals labelled ''Player X'', ex-wives, extensive interviews and investigations.
You'd be excused for thinking you were in the depths of a spy novel.
As a result of evidence gathered by the ICC's anti-corruption unit being leaked to the media, statements made by Lou Vincent (42 pages), his ex-wife Elly Riley (10 pages) and Brendon McCullum (three pages) have raised speculation about whether or not Player X referred to in some of the documents is Chris Cairns.
If Cairns is not the infamous Player X referred to in the ICC testimonies from Vincent and McCullum and these allegations against him are, as he put it, ''a complete lie'', why has everyone got it in for Cairns?
He suggests his concerns about the health of the game have upset some powerful people in the world of cricket and that the only explanation for this witch hunt against him is that there are ''dark forces at play'' which have ''long arms, deep pockets and great influence''.
This seems a bit melodramatic but then we are talking about loads of dosh, dirty deals and dishonesty on an international scale.
Innocent or guilty, one thing is for sure: he must be great at rubbing people up the wrong way.
At least the ICC has finally extinguished any suspicions surrounding Brendon McCullum by publicly stating he is not under investigation for match-fixing.
What a relief to the Black Caps captain and his legal team, but they can't be too pleased with the fact that the statements he made to the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit were publicly leaked in the first place.
So where did the leak come from?
Where has all this corruption come from?
The document leak and prolific spread of match-fixing suggested in Vincent's testimony suggests there is a stench coming from somewhere within the cricket world.
Some suggest it is the result of a few bad eggs such as Vincent; others suggest the ''general bad smell'' came from rebel competitions such as the ICL.
No wonder Lou Vincent is in hiding, and considering his history of mental health issues, let's hope someone is supporting him through this process.
He was labelled as a ''fixer'' and a ''cheat'' by other players during his playing years and he also has to deal with being a whistle-blower - a role that often blacklists the actor on both sides of the investigation.
There is an alternative source of the bad odour in cricket that is yet to be investigated thoroughly.
The saying regarding governance and unethical behaviour that ''a fish rots from the head'' suggests the ICC itself is not immune from scrutiny.
We are yet to determine how far or how high this rot goes.
Cairns suggests it is prolific and profound in the world of cricket.
Irrespective of their integrity or likeability, evidence given by those players on the grey side (Cairns), the dark side (Vincent) or the light side (McCullum) has set off a series of events surrounding match-fixing and corruption within cricket that will take time to rectify.
In other words, it will be a few years yet before that rotting fish smell is eradicated from international cricket, and the stench may never be completely eliminated.
