Seven New Zealand cricketers to stand against Chris Cairns

Chris Cairns leaving court in London. Photo / Getty

At least seven New Zealand cricketers are expected to give evidence against their former team-mate Chris Cairns in his trial in London on charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice. In outlining the Crown case against him in court, here's what Sasha Wass, QC, said each will allege against a man regarded as the "golden boy" of the game. Cairns denies the charges.

Lou Vincent

Expected to be the first witness on Monday. Played for the Chandigarh Lions in the ICL where he was approached about a "sponsorship deal" and offered money and an escort. He declined both and reported the match-fixing proposal to his agent, Leanne McGoldrick, and Cairns, who captained the team.

Alleges Cairns said reporting the approach was a "good cover" and Vincent would work for him now. He would be paid US$50,000 for each match that he fixed. Vincent alleges he was to score 10-15 runs off 20 balls and then get out, which happened on four occasions in 2008, but interspersed his cheating with legitimate performances to avoid suspicion.

Vincent disclosed his match-fixing to his wife Eleanor Riley, his friend and former Black Cap Andre Adams (see below) and two other cricketers Phil Hayes and Steven Pearson. They will also be witnesses in the trial. He made formal admissions to the New Zealand Players Association in August 2013 and the ICC anti-corruption unit. He received 11 life bans in July 2014 for match-fixing.

Cairns' defence team will say Vincent is lying.

Brendon McCullum

The Black Caps skipper is expected to give formal evidence next week. He played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL during 2008.

Cairns was his idol and the pair became friends. McCullum will allege they once met in a hotel room in India and Cairns steered the conversation towards "spread betting". Cairns is alleged to have said "everyone was doing it" and he didn't want McCullum to miss out, with payments of $70,000 to $180,000 per game. McCullum was shocked by the alleged proposal and later declined to be involved.

They met again later at a café in Worcester in June 2008, when Cairns allegedly asked McCullum if he had changed his mind. He had not.

McCullum did not officially report the alleged approach - something he regrets - until 2011 following an anti-corruption presentation ahead of the World Cup.

Cairns' defence team will say McCullum is lying.

Andre Adams

Close friends with Vincent, who approached him to fix games in the middle of 2008. Adams declined but did not report his friend because of his fragile mental health. Will allege that Cairns spoke freely about match-fixing at a dinner attended by members of the New Zealand team and boasted that no one could ever prove it.

Chris Harris

Captained the Hyderabad Heroes in the ICL during 2007 and 2008. Remembers two specific games involving the Chandigarh Lions and other teams in the competition.

The first involved Cairns hitting the ball for a simple catch, which was dropped by the other team, before he went for a "silly run" and was run out. Harris found this suspicious.

In the second game, both teams seemed to deliberately underperform until the Chandigarh wicketkeeper started to score some runs and won the game. The winning captain, Chris Cairns, was not happy, according to Harris.

Shane Bond

Played for the Dehli Giants in the ICL and also remembers the same game as Harris when Cairns was unhappy his team won. Umpires in the ICL are also expected to give evidence about suspicious behaviour. McCullum also told Bond that Cairns had allegedly approached him to fix matches.

Daniel Vettori

Was told by McCullum that Cairns had allegedly approached him to fix matches.

Kyle Mills

Was told by McCullum that Cairns had allegedly approached him to fix matches.

Other witnesses from NZ cricket circles

Leanne McGoldrick: Player agent for Vincent and McCullum, both of whom reported alleged match-fixing approaches to her.

David White: Current New Zealand Cricket chief executive.

Witnesses from Australia

Ricky Ponting: Australian captain who played for Kolkata with McCullum. Will give evidence about a phone conversation McCullum had with Cairns about a business proposal.

Tony Greig: A statement from the late cricket commentator who was also involved in the ICL.

Other potential witnesses

Stephen Fleming
Mark Greatbatch
Kerry Schwalger (McCullum's former mental skills coach)
John Parker, former New Zealand captain who was forced to apologise to McCullum after circulating the Taylor Affair document in regards to Ross Taylor being dropped as captain.

- By Jared Savage in London.