Former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns not found guilty for match fixing

Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns has been acquitted of perjury and perverting the course of justice after a jury at Southwark crown court returned a verdict of not guilty on Monday.

Both Cairns and co-defendant Andrew Fitch–Holland, who had faced the latter of the two charges, will walk away free men following a nine-week trial in London that began on October 5, with the jury beginning their deliberations, lasting 10 hours and 17 minutes, last Tuesday afternoon.

In the 2012 libel case, Britain’s first Twitter libel trial –  Cairns won damages of $130,000 (£90,000) by successfully suing Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi over a 2010 tweet, which accused the cricketer of match-fixing while playing in the Indian Cricket League.

He is also accused of perverting the course of justice by inducing fellow New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent to give a false witness statement in a Skype call. Vincent told the court that Mr. Cairns had approached him to suggest he deliberately play roughly for Chandigarh Lions and said he had helped to fix matches under “direct orders” from Mr. Cairns, which the defendant denies.

The trial has also heard evidence from a pack of cricketers including current New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, former captain Daniel Vettori, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Harris and medium fast bowler Andre Adams.

The Kiwi all-rounder was seen driving trucks, cleaning bus shelters for $17 an hour. Cairns’ former team-mate Dion Nash told New Zealand Herald last month: “He’s trying really hard and supporting his family the best way he can. He’s not moping around, he’s showing guts and doing hard work by cleaning bus shelters.