Cairns has always denied any wrongdoing and described match-fixing claims against him as "despicable lies".
Yesterday, he spent much of the afternoon at his Herne Bay home and was seen armed with a large umbrella taking two of his children for a walk in the rain.
Questioned about the charge, he asked to be left alone. He confirmed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England had contacted him after the Herald learned from sources close to the investigation that he was about to be charged. His friend lawyer Andrew Fitch-Holland will also be charged.
Last night, a CPS spokesman told the Weekend Herald: "We can confirm that we have authorised police to charge Chris Cairns with one count of perjury, which arises from a libel trial held in the UK in March 2012. We have also authorised police to charge Andrew Fitch-Holland with one count of perverting the course of justice, which arises from actions taken relating to the same trial."
The perjury charge stems from a High Court libel trial in London where Cairns won damages of $174,000 and costs of $775,000 against former Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi.
Modi had tweeted that the reason Cairns had been expelled from the now-defunct Indian Cricket League was because of match-fixing.
Cairns left the ICL's Chandigarh Lions in 2008; the official reason was given as an undeclared injury. Allegations have since surfaced Cairns was involved in match-fixing with Chandigarh teammates Lou Vincent and Daryl Tuffey.
Lou Vincent. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Vincent has admitted his role and recently received 11 life bans from the England and Wales Cricket Board for fixing during county limited-overs games.
Tuffey provided a character statement for Cairns in the libel trial.
Perjury conviction precedents in the UK include the novelist and politician Lord Jeffrey Archer in 2001. He was sentenced to four years' jail on two counts of perjury and two of perverting the course of justice. He served two.
Yesterday, Cairns said in a statement that he would fly to Britain to clear his name.
"I'm obviously extremely disappointed. However, at least there will now be an opportunity to face my accusers in an open forum, with some rigour and proper process around that, so that I can clear my name once and for all.
"I hope that, through this forum, significant additional information will be flushed out that will help people to better assess the situation, as well as the character and motives of the parties involved. I wish this wasn't the situation - having been to court before, I know what lies ahead and how gruelling it will be and how tough it is on my family - but I have nothing to hide and I will do whatever it takes to once again prove my innocence. I will continue to co-operate fully with the authorities, including voluntarily travelling to the UK."
New Zealand Cricket said in a statement that the charge, "quite different from proceedings conducted by cricket authorities into match-fixing and corruption, will now be tested in a British court of law and be subject to the normal processes of a criminal trial".
It would not be making any further comment until the trial had ended.
Cairns' file has been with the Crown Prosecution Service since the Met Police, whose representatives have travelled to NZ several times over the past year, recently wrapped up their investigation.
Fitch-Holland, who gave evidence on Cairns' behalf at the 2012 libel trial, was arrested and bailed in March.
The charges are the culmination of a story the Herald broke on December 5, revealing that up to three former NZ internationals were being investigated by the International Cricket Council over allegations of match-fixing.
- additional reporting: Susan Strongman
