THE former Australia captain, Ricky Ponting, current New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum and the former New Zealand spinner and captain Daniel Vettori are among a cast of high-profile witnesses set to take the stand in the perjury trial involving former New Zealand all-rounder, Chris Cairns. Cairns has been accused by the Crown Prosecution Service of lying under oath during a 2012 libel case and could face a prison sentence of a maximum of seven years if found guilty.
Also standing trial is Cairns’ former legal counsel Andrew Fitch-Holland, who has been charged for perverting the course of justice in the 2012 case against former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who had accused the one-time New Zealand captain of match-fixing.
Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and opener Mark Greatbatch have been named as potential witnesses as the trial got under way at Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday morning. Also featuring on the 50-plus witnesses list, named by the prosecution and defence teams, are Cairns’ former New Zealand team-mates Shane Bond, Kyle Mills, Chris Harris and Andre Adams.
There will also be some former and current ICC officials providing evidence: Ronnie Flanagan, the current head of the anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) and Ravi Sawani, former ACSU general manager. Other witnesses are expected to include Cairns’ wife, Mel, and Mal Loye, the former England one-day batsman.
Although the court will reassemble tomorrow afternoon, when a 12-person jury would be sworn in, the trial proper is likely to begin from next Monday when the prosecution begins calling on the witnesses. The first witness is likely to be former New Zealand opener Lou Vincent, who was banned for life last July by the ECB and the ICC following his confession that he had accepted money to underperform.
Yesterday the court was read the two charges against Cairns, the second of which is a joint action against Fitch-Holland, namely that the pair induced Vincent to provide a false witness statement during his successful libel action against Modi.
Count one, which has been made against Cairns alone, was that in the course of the same trial Cairns “wilfully made a statement … which he knew to be false, namely that he had ‘never, ever cheated at cricket and nor would he ever contemplate such a thing’.”
The trial is likely to stretch over a month with Justice Nigel Sweeney, the judge hearing the case, making it clear to the shortlisted jury that it was his “pessimistic view” that the trial would go until November 20.
Cairns was first to arrive to the Court as early as 08:45hrs. In the morning session that lasted two hours, Cairns confirmed his identity to the court registrar, and exchanged a few words with Fitch-Holland, who sat next to him in the glass-panelled dock.
The court shortlisted a jury of 16 members, out of which tomorrow 12 would be sworn in with two spare members, who would be present till the prosecution completes its arguments. The potential jury was also made aware of the fact that some of the witnesses would be facing the court through video-conferencing from overseas with the time difference being sometimes as long as 11 hours for witnesses from New Zealand.
The prosecution team is led by Queen’s Counsellor Sasha Wass along with her colleague Esther Schwatzer-Weismann. Cairns’ defence team comprises Orlando Pownell and Simon Ray while Fitch-Holland is being represented by Jonathan Ladlow and Jonathan Polnay. (ESPN Cricinfo)