Former New Zealand captain Chris Cairns persuaded a team-mate to fix matches with him and then got a friend to pressure him into lying about it during a High Court libel action, a court heard.
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Cairns, who played 277 times for his country over 17 years, claimed his reputation had been shattered after the chairman of the Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi, accused him on Twitter in January 2010 of match-fixing while he was playing for the Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League in 2008.
Cairns, who it was also claimed approached current Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum with a view to match-fixing, brought a libel action against him and successfully sued him for £1.4m (Dh79m).
But Sasha Wass QC told London’s Southwark Crown Court that there was evidence to prove he had actually been involved in match-fixing and had lied about it under oath.
Cairns will say in his defence McCullum is lying
— Nick Hoult (@NHoultCricket) October 7, 2015
She told the jury that Cairns’ coaccused, his friend Andrew Fitch-Holland, a barrister and his “lead adviser”, approached the cricketer’s team-mate, Lou Vincent, to get him to lie during the libel action.
Vincent not only knew Cairns had fixed matches, but was involved in match-fixing himself under the direct orders of Cairns, Wass said.
During a Skype call, played to the court, Fitch-Holland told Vincent: “If you can literally get a one-paragraph statement that says ‘I played in the game, everything seemed OK’, end of … it makes it plain that things are a lot more straightforward than they look.”
Fitch-Holland appeared to accept that both he and Vincent knew the cheating had happened, saying: “Between you and I, we all know some of what is being said is clearly true”, but tried to reassure him that he would never have to swear his statement was true in court.
But Vincent said: “It’s a big ask from me to… in a legal document say something that isn’t true”, adding: “I am not proud of what has happened at all.”
Wass said the conversation was proof that both Vincent and Fitch-Holland knew the libel case Cairns was bringing was untrue.
She said: “What that means is that Chris Cairns was guilty of match-fixing. By denying it on sworn witness statements and oath Mr Cairns was committing perjury.”
Cairns, 45, from Auckland, who once lived in Dubai, is charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice, while Fitch-Holland is accused of perverting the course of justice. They both deny the charges.
Cairns attempted to recruit current New Zealand captain McCullum, saying he could earn big money by throwing games while playing in the ICL in 2008, the court heard.
McCullum reported the approach from Cairns after hearing ACSU briefing at 2011 World Cup in India
— Nick Hoult (@NHoultCricket) October 7, 2015
They then later met up in a cafe in Worcester, where a touring New Zealand team were playing against the county side.
“At that meeting Brendon McCullum says Cairns approached him and asked him whether he had changed his mind,” Wass told the jury.
“He said no he hadn’t. Mr McCullum didn’t log an official report on Cairns at the time. He should have done that. He will tell you he regrets not doing that, but will explain Cairns was such a hero to him that he could not bring himself to do that straight away.”
It was not until McCullum underwent anti-corruption training at the Cricket World Cup in India in 2011 that he alerted officials to what happened.
Daniel Vettori, another former New Zealand player, and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting will both give evidence that Mr McCullum told them he was approached by Cairns.
