A London court on Monday cleared Cairns of perjury and perverting the course of justice after a nine-week trial which included testimony from Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum that his ex-teammate had pitched a match-fixing proposal.
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Yet the allegations against Cairns in that case, which led directly to his perjury trial resurfaced in December 2013 when he International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed it was investigating match-fixing claims involving three former New Zealand internationals.
Vincent was one of the Crown’s key witnesses in the trial, which began on October 5, and told the court that he began match fixing on orders from Cairns when they played together in the Indian Cricket League in 2008.
“He said [he would] never [be] involved in cricket and that might be his decision, but as I said to someone this morning, I’m an older guy and I never say never”, Mr Heal said.
“Chris has said, “no he doesn’t want to get involved in cricket”, and I understand that today but I hope – and my personal view is – we should never say never”, Heal says.
It’s been hell for the last five or so years and, in particular, the last couple of years.
“There has been a lot of damage done and I think that’s unfortunate”, he said.
Former New Zealand fast bowler Chris Cairns in a Test match against England in Nottingham, England, … However, he ruled out a return to the cricket world, saying it would be a hard environment to go back in to.
He was surprised and disappointed Lance Cairns – also a long-serving former New Zealand allrounder – was left to cope with the stress of the situation on his own. “I’ve been through the mill and came through other side”.
Asked if it would be wise or possible for Cairns to have any future involvement with NZC after his reputation was apparently “scorched” by the case, Mr Heal said again that it was not the day to answer that.
The jury in Chris Cairns’s London trial has finished the week with no verdict.
In his summing up, Justice Nigel Sweeney told the jury that, if they were sure two of the three witnesses were telling the truth, then they were open to convicting Cairns of perjury.
“Just a very happy man”.
“Athletes will think twice before they report, because they’ve been put in situations where they’ve had their integrity questioned, and everything about their lives questioned, which I think is unfair”.
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“And I assume what was occurring in 2008 and now, immediately – it’s a totally different surroundings”. But a year ago there was to be a further twist when testimony given to the ICC’s anti-corruption unit by the self-confessed match-fixer Lou Vincent was leaked.
