Former New Zealand captain Chris Cairns denies involvement in match-fixing
Wednesday 4 November 2015 06:54, UK
Former New Zealand cricket captain Chris Cairns has repeatedly denied any involvement in match-fixing as he defended himself against accusations of perjury.
Cairns, who played 277 times for his country over 17 years, told a jury there was "no truth" to allegations that he had tried to persuade his team-mate Lou Vincent to join in with cheating.
The 45-year-old is charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice, while his friend, Andrew Fitch-Holland, 50, is accused of perverting the course of justice.
Asked by his barrister, Orlando Pownall, at Souhwark Crown Court in London whether at any stage he was involved in match-fixing, Cairns replied: "No."
Mr Pownall went on: "Did you contemplate match-fixing?" Cairns again replied that he had not.
Dressed in a blue jacket, blue jeans and a light blue shirt, Cairns repeatedly batted away allegations he had tried to coerce former team-mates into fixing matches.
The court heard that he signed a three-year contract in 2008 to play for and captain the Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League worth 350,000 US dollars a year.
He was "very excited" about the prospect of earning so much money at the tail-end of his career, particularly after he had a "significant drop" in his salary while playing cricket for New Zealand in the years before.
During the trial, the jury was told by fellow Lions player Mr Vincent that Cairns had ordered him to fix games by deliberately playing badly.
Mr Vincent said he also told Cairns that an Indian man had offered him cash and a prostitute to get involved in fixing, and that Cairns told him: "You did the right thing... that's good cover, right, you're working for me now."
Cairns said he could not recall Mr Vincent telling him he had been approached to fix matches, adding: "If he had, we would have been straight off to (ICL administrators) Howard Beer and Tony Greig."
He also denied having told Mr Vincent that he "worked for him now".
And when Mr Pownall asked: "Did you at any stage seek to persuade him, successfully or not, to under-perform?", Cairns replied: "No."
