Cricket: Cairns to sue IPL commissioner for defamation

Chris Cairns will fight the damage done to his reputation after Lalit Modi's comments. Photo / Getty Images

Former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns is to sue Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi for defamation.

Cairns' name was removed this week from a list of 97 players initially put forward for the next IPL player Twenty20 auction and Modi was quoted as saying it related to allegations during Cairns' time in the unsanctioned India Cricket League (ICL).

``The allegation made by Lalit Modi that I have been involved in match fixing is scandalous and wholly untrue. For him to circulate such a falsehood around the world is outrageous,' Cairns said in a statement today.

``Mr Modi's allegation has caused me huge personal distress and professional damage. I cannot allow these slurs to ruin my future and I have instructed my solicitors, Collyer Bristow LLP, to bring proceedings for defamation against Mr Modi.'

Cairns' representative Andrew Fitch-Holland said: ``Having spent much of the last day seeking expert advice, we will now move quickly to fight the damage being done to Chris' reputation.'

Modi's comments were widely reported on Wednesday.

Fitch-Holland said earlier that Cairns, 39, was never the subject of any investigation or finding of misconduct during his short stint in the now-defunct ICL.

Cairns was suspended from the ICL in October 2008 on what was described as ``disciplinary grounds' after captaining the Chandigarh Lions in three matches.

His then-teammate and former Indian international Dinesh Mongia was also suspended.

At the time, Fitch-Holland said he agreed with a report on Cricinfo that claimed Cairns had been suspended for arriving in India with an undeclared ankle injury, which violated his contract. ``That is the position,' the lawyer said.

Cairns played the last of his 62 tests against England in 2004. He also played 215 one-day internationals, and played his final match for New Zealand in the Twenty20 format against the West Indies in 2006.

- NZPA