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Cairns made match-fixing approach, claims McCullum

Former New Zealand captain Chris Cairns approached current skipper Brendon McCullum with a “business proposition” about match-fixing, McCullum told a London court on Thursday.

McCullum, 34, told Cairns’ perjury trial that Cairns made the approach in a hotel in Kolkata, India in April 2008, explaining to him that other players “did not have the balls to do it”.

McCullum said he was “shocked” by the approach and was contacted by Cairns regarding the matter a further two times that year before eventually reporting him to the cricket authorities in February 2011.

Former all-rounder Cairns, one of New Zealand’s greatest ever players, denies one charge of perjury and one charge of perverting the court of justice.

Wicket-keeper batsman McCullum was playing alongside Australia’s Ricky Ponting for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the time of Cairns’ alleged approach.

He told Southwark Crown Court that over a bottle of red wine and a curry in Cairns’ hotel room, Cairns had asked him if he knew “anything about spot-fixing in cricket”.

McCullum said that Cairns had used a piece of paper to illustrate how spot-fixing worked, involving the manipulation of runs scored in a match, but not the result.

According to McCullum, Cairns gave a “quite thorough” description of the practice, breaking down different periods of the game and <g data-gr-id="20">noting</g> when the match could be influenced.

Asked by prosecutor Sasha Wass QC if it was a “legitimate” way to play cricket, Mr McCullum said: “No, it was not an honest game of cricket.”
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