Chris Cairns has appeared in court at the start of his trial on charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice, with a number of leading former cricketers named as witnesses.
The former New Zealand all-rounder and his barrister Andrew Fitch-Holland, who is accused on one count of perverting the course of justice, appeared in the dock at Southwark crown court for the first time in a case that could last until mid-November. They face charges relating to a civil action against Lalit Modi, the founder of the Indian Premier League, in 2012. Modi was sued by Cairns after accusing the former Black Caps player of match-fixing.
A number of former players were on Monday named as witnesses for both the defence and prosecution, with the jury to be sworn in on Wednesday. They include the current and former New Zealand captains, Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori, and the former Australia captain Ricky Ponting.
Around 15 players are expected to give evidence, including Shane Bond, Andre Adams, Mal Loye and Kyle Mills. Other witnesses include ICC officials, a doctor and the former Test umpire Steve Davis. Some will appear via video-link.
Cairns and Fitch-Holland deny the charges. Modi had accused the former all-rounder of match-fixing on Twitter in 2010 but Cairns, who captained the Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League in 2007 and 2008, won £90,000 damages and legal costs against him.
Lou Vincent, the disgraced former New Zealand batsman who pleaded guilty to corruption charges last year and was handed a life ban from cricket by the ECB, is also a witness in the case.
On count one, Cairns, 45, is accused of perjury between 1 October 2010 and 31 March 2012 relating to the Modi defamation case, namely that he “wilfully made a statement material in that proceeding which he knew to be false, namely that he had never, ever cheated at cricket and nor would he ever contemplate such a thing”.
On count two, Cairns and Fitch-Holland are accused of an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, that they “arranged to approach Lou Vincent with a view to his providing a false witness statement in support of Christ Lance Cairns’ libel action against Lalit Modi in the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in England”, and “induced Lou Vincent to provide a false witness statement during a Skype conversation”.The trial, to be heard by Mr Justice Sweeney, could last until 20 November.
