McCullum testifies on Cairns approaches

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has testified that the initial contact from his boyhood "idol" Chris Cairns that led to a "business proposition" to become involved in spot fixing came while he was sharing a drink in a Kolkata hotel bar with Ricky Ponting.

McCullum, who will lead the Black Caps on their three-Test tour of Australia beginning later this month, told a London court that Cairns had approached him three times during 2008 to get involved in spot fixing but that he had turned down the offers on each occasion.

The 34-year-old told the court he had not reported the approaches to cricket's anti-corruption authorities until three years later because "I didn't want it to be true".

"He (Cairns) was someone I still considered a friend," McCullum said of the 45-year-old former NZ captain with whom he played six Tests and more than 60 one-day internationals between 2002 and 2006.

"I didn't want to rat on him, for want of a better term."

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Cairns, McCullum and Vettori during a 2006 ODI // Getty

McCullum was giving evidence at the trial of Cairns who is charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice arising from a libel suit that involved former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi.

Cairns has denied the charges, as has his former barrister Andrew Fitch-Holland who is charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

McCullum, who spent more than two hours in the witness box at the Southwark Crown Court, testified that the initial approach from Cairns came via a phone call while he was having a drink with Ponting prior to the start of the 2008 IPL tournament.

Both McCullum and Ponting were playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders at the time.

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McCullum told the court Cairns had told him he had a "business proposition" to discuss and arranged for McCullum to go to his (Cairns's) hotel room in Kolkata where the pair shared a bottle of red wine and room service curry.

Cairns asked McCullum if he knew "anything about spot fixing" and then Cairns had explained how it worked by manipulating outcomes within a match such as runs scored rather than the game result, and used diagrams that McCullum told the court were "quite thorough".

"I was shocked," McCullum said.

"I sort of thought he may have been joking but was then quickly aware he wasn't joking."

McCullum told the court that Cairns had also said to him that "everybody is doing it, all the big boys are doing it" and that he already had other players working for him including former NZ internationals Lou Vincent and Daryl Tuffey.

McCullum testified that Cairns had also said other NZ players Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram were not involved because Cairns claimed they "wouldn't have the balls to take it on".

McCullum said Cairns had told him that he (McCullum) "was the sort of player and the sort of personality to take it on".

Cairns had told MCullum he could make between $US70,000 and $US200,000 at a time for being involved in spot fixing, and McCullum admitted to feeling pleased to be asked and being "slightly inquisitive" about the proposition and left the hotel room with mixed emotions.

"It's a hard emotion to explain, you kind of feel it was a daring adventure as well," McCullum told the court.

 "I wish I had said no straight away, but I couldn't comprehend that Chris would put me in a position where he'd risk my future in the game."

McCullum told the court he had provided Ponting with a vague explanation when he returned from his meeting with Cairns, and that Cairns had followed up with a "pretty brief" phone call about a week later to congratulate McCullum on his performance in a subsequent match.

He said Cairns had then asked "if I had changed my mind – I said no" and as the phone call ended Cairns had told him to "remember this conversation never happened".

McCullum testified that the third and final approach from Cairns came when the pair had breakfast in Worcester when McCullum was playing in the UK in 2008, but it wasn't until he attended an anti-corruption briefing in Bangladesh in 2011 that he realised he should report the approaches to authorities.

Prior to his meeting in February 2011 with John Rhodes, the Australasian head of the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption and security unit, McCullum told the court he had been "scared to come forward".

 "I felt he (Cairns) was a hero and I didn't feel threatened by him or his approaches," McCullum said under cross examination when asked to explain the three-year delay in reporting the approaches he claimed to have received from Cairns.

"I thought I could deal with it without creating an issue. I wasn't as understanding of the rules as I am now."

Cross-examined by Cairns's lawyer Orlando Pownall QC, McCullum claimed he was in no doubt that he had received direct approaches from Cairns to become involved in spot fixing.

Pownall claimed that as a successful cricketer and businessman with interests in horse racing bloodstock and food and beverage enterprises, the current New Zealand captain was acting to protect the interests of "brand McCullum".

"I'm going to suggest you haven't told the unvarnished truth," Pownall told the court.

To which McCullum replied: "To my knowledge I have."

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Cairns arrives at Southwark Crown Court yesterday // Getty

Cairns, who played 62 Tests and 215 one-day internationals for New Zealand and captained his country in both formats, was awarded £90,000 in damages after he launched a libel suit against Modi in 2012.

Modi had posted allegations on social media platform Twitter that Cairns was involved in fixing in the Indian Cricket League where Cairns was playing for the Chandigarh Lions at the time, and a UK High Court found Modi had libelled him.

Cairns has since been accused by the UK Crown Prosecutions Service of lying under oath in that case because he "wilfully made a statement … which he knew to be false, namely that he has 'never, ever cheated at cricket and nor would he ever contemplate such a thing'".

The 45-year-old, who was named as one of Widen Cricket Almanack's Cricketers of the Year in 2000, could face a prison sentence of up to seven years if found guilty.

Cairns has always maintained his innocence of the charge and denied any involvement in match-fixing. The case continues in court.

McCullum's stint in the witness box now complete, he is expected to return to New Zealand and travel with the Black Caps squad on Tuesday for the short trans-Tasman journey to Australia. 

McCullum has not played a competitive fixture since he featured in a charity match T20 match at The Oval in September. Prior to that he played in England's domestic T20 competition with Warwickshire in July. The Black Caps' first fixture in Australia is the Prime Minister's XI match on October 23.