Brendon McCullum has given evidence at Chris Cairns perjury trial

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has told a court that Chris Cairns approached him with a "business proposition" about match fixing.

Mr McCullum, 34, told London's Southwark Crown Court that his fellow-New Zealand international Cairns, who was considered one of the best all-rounders in the world for much of his career, shifted the discussion to the topic of "spot fixing" while they were in a hotel room in Calcutta, India, in April 2008.

Mr McCullum, a wicketkeeper-batsman, was playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL at the time.

He told the jury at Cairns's ongoing perjury trial that he felt "shocked" by the query, in which Cairns sketched out his suggestions on a piece of paper.

Cairns was a sporting idol whom he thought of as "a friend I looked up to and someone I trust," said Mr McCullum.

He added: "It was a different proposition to what I expected."

Mr McCullum claimed the meeting took place in Cairns's hotel room. It had been arranged when Mr McCullum was in a bar with Kolkata team mate Ricky Ponting, and Mr McCullum got a taxi to the hotel.

When Cairns said he had a "business proposition" for him, Mr McCullum said that, as he was young he was unsure what it meant, but that he was "excited about it and I thought I would wait and see what happened".

Over a bottle of red wine and a curry ordered on room service Cairns asked Mr McCullum if he knew "anything about spot fixing in cricket," Mr McCullum claimed.

It was explained to him that you manipulated the runs in a match, but not the result of the game, Mr McCullum also claimed.

He said that Cairns went through different periods of the game, breaking it down, and noted that an impact could be made.

He claimed that a player would "underperform" and that Cairns drew up a "quite thorough" description of it on paper involving splits and overs which make up the game.

Asked by prosecutor Sasha Wass QC if this was a "legitimate" way to play cricket, Mr McCullum replied: "No, it was not an honest game of cricket."

On his reaction to the proposition, Mr McCullum told the court: "I was shocked. I sort of thought he may have been joking but I quickly became aware that he was not joking. He said that everybody is doing it, all the big boys are doing it. Will you take it on?"

Mr McCullum told the jury: "I wish I had said no straight away. I could not comprehend that Chris would put me in a position which would risk my future in the game."

In 2010 Cairns was accused by the chairman of the Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi, on Twitter of match-fixing at the Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League two years earlier.

He brought a libel action against Mr Modi and successfully sued him for £1.4 m.

Cairns, 45, from Auckland, is charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice, while Andrew Fitch-Holland, from Burton Road, Manchester, is accused of perverting the course of justice.

They both deny the charges.

Orlando Pownall QC, defending Cairns, pointed out that Mr McCullum's success and skill on the field had helped himself and others amass a large fortune.

Mr Pownall described "brand McCullum" as "prestigious" and as covering a range of industries, both inside and outside of cricket.

It is something that Mr McCullum would want to ensure "remains intact", Mr Pownall suggested.

He questioned Mr McCullum about the three statements he had made - from 2011 to 2014 - on the allegations.

He suggested that Mr McCullum had not told "the unvarnished truth".

Mr McCullum claimed his answers were truthful and any differences or greater details were perhaps because the questions had changed slightly over time.

Mr McCullum told the court: "I was scared to come forward and say that someone I admired in New Zealand had asked me to come forward to match fix."

On why he had not spoken up around the time of the controversy between Cairns and Mr Modi, Mr McCullum said he did not feel "it was my responsibility to get between" them.

He also said he had not faced a tribunal about his late reporting of the allegations.

"I have been told that the ICC and the Anti-Corruption Unit are comfortable about how things have turned out," he told the court.

Mr McCullum accepted that his witness statements had "developed" over time but said that he was telling the truth.

New Zealand Test player Daryl Tuffey was among the names thrown up in the match-fixing controversy as working for Cairns, the court has heard.

Under cross-examination Mr Pownall told Mr McCullum: "The simple point is that you had somebody who, according to you, you allege to be a cheat and you did nothing. It was not a one-off. It was over a number of years. Is that fair?"

Mr McCullum replied: "Yes that's fair."

Mr McCullum later said that it was not easy to report Cairns, saying: "I did not want to at all."

He also said that he "probably deliberately did not tell" Mr Ponting, a known hard liner against corruption, about the allegations.

Ms Wass later asked him if it had helped him professionally in his business interests as "Brand McCullum" to give evidence against Cairns in court.

He replied: "Not to my knowledge, no."