Cricket: Brendon McCullum to face questions on Cairns verdict

Brendon McCullum will be facing questions on the Chris Cairns verdict. Photo / Getty

Brendon McCullum will make his first public remarks in the wake of the Chris Cairns verdict when he fronts the media in Dunedin tomorrow.

The New Zealand test cricket skipper will attend the traditional eve-of-test media conference, as will his Sri Lankan counterpart Angelo Mathews, ahead of the first test starting at the University Oval on Thursday.

But alongside his views on the pitch, the state of his team as he counts down to his expected retirement from test cricket in four tests' time, and the strength of Sri Lanka, McCullum will face questions on the aftermath of Cairns being found not guilty of perjury in the case at London's Southwark Crown Court at the start of this month.

McCullum, who was a key witness for the prosecution, is expected to offer limited thoughts, more so on how and whether it affected his form in Australia, and his preparation for the series, rather than delving back into the verdict.

If he read the sports news on Sunday, McCullum will have seen his former teammate, and a player he once looked up to, goading him in a front page column, headed "Please explain, Brendon".

In it, Cairns wrote that McCullum has to decide if he will support former Indian administrator Lalit Modi in his anticipated civil action to regain monies lost to Cairns from his 2010 libel action.

"It should be McCullum who has to face up to his part in all this," Cairns wrote in his Fairfax column. "I ask you again Brendon, why did you bring all of this pain and suffering upon my family?"

McCullum's legal advice is expected to be to avoid a verbal slanging match with Cairns.

Further, he is likely to have been advised to restrict his comments to anti-corruption investigators and relevant legal authorities.

McCullum has been an expressive personality throughout his career. This is one occasion when keeping schtum, however much he may want to mark out his long run, would be the wiser personal course of action.