Cairns wasn't happy with the win, reveals Harris
Chris Harris has disclosed during the hearing in the Chris Cairns case that the latter reacted weirdly when his ICL team Chandigarh Lions beat Mumbai Champs in 2008 season. Cairns is facing charges of match-fixing and perjury in Southwark Crown court in England, reports ESPNCricinfo.
Harris, himself a fine former all-rounder with the Black Caps recalled a number of ‘strange incidents’ during the contest, which had Chris Cairns behaving suspiciously. According to Harris’ testimony, Cairns looked anything but delighted after his team beat the Mumbai outfit in Hyderabad thanks to a timely knock of their wicketkeeper Sarabjit Singh, who smashed a 22-ball 41 to seal the win.
Lou Vincent, who gave evidence in the court during the first week of the trial, singled out the same match as ‘one of the fixtures’ for which Cairns paid to manipulate the result.
Post-match footage revealed
However, the footage showed during the trial told a different story altogether. Orlando Pownall, Cairns' defence lawyer, presented the post-match footage to the court. In it, Cairns was seen smiling and embracing one of his team-mates.
"It's perfectly plain, that after that six went over the boundary, the Chandigarh Lions appeared to be delighted," said Mr Pownall. "Do you agree?" "I don't believe that was the footage I saw," Harris replied. "I would agree with you that was a fair amount of emotion after winning a game," Harris replied.
Harris, who skipped the Hyderabad franchise in the league, said Cairns left him baffled by winning the toss and batted first on a damp wicket. "It was a bit of a surprise to me," he recalled.
Cairns sued former BCCI honcho Modi after he tweeted allegations of match-fixing in 2010. However, Harris claimed that, during a Lashings game at Bromley Cricket Club, Fitch-Holland had conceded Cairns' guilt in a conversation with a group of players.
Vettori was ‘shocked and angry’
During last week’s trial, the former New Zealand skipper, Daniel Vettori addressed the London court through video conference, where he clarified that McCullum had mentioned Cairns' approach to him along with another team-mate, Kyle Mills, during New Zealand’s tour of Bangladesh in 2010.
"Brendon said Chris Cairns had asked him to spot-fix on two occasions," Vettori told the court, adding that the news had surprised him. "Chris was one of my best friends in cricket, he was a mentor to me," Vettori said. "To feel Brendon was put in that situation ... I was stunned."
The next hearing for the high-profile trial is in London court at noon BST on Tuesday, 27 October.