Former New Zealand cricket captain Chris Cairns told the High Court in London on Monday that an accusation of match-fixing had reduced his career to “dust” and strained his marriage. Cairns, 41, is suing Lalit Modi, the former chairman of Twenty20 franchise the Indian Premier League (IPL), for substantial libel damages over an “unequivocal allegation” made on Twitter.
His lawyer, Andrew Caldecott, told judge David Bean, who is hearing the case without a jury, that Modi’s tweet sent in January 2010 was picked up by cricket website Cricinfo. Cairns complained to Cricinfo and the website withdrew the report, paid damages and apologised.
However Modi declined to apologise and pleaded justification, maintaining that the charge was true. Cairns alleges that the allegation was “wholly untrue” and a very grave libel. He said that if it was left uncorrected, it would destroy all he had achieved over a 20-year career, in which he notched up the rare double of 200 wickets and 3,000 runs in 62 Tests. In evidence, he said: “The defendant’s allegations have also had a profound effect on my personal and private life. It put a strain on my marriage. It hurts that my wife may think that I am not the man she thought I was.
“It hurts me too that friends, many of whom are former cricketing foes, will question my integrity as a man and a sportsman and that all I achieved in the great game of cricket is dust.”
Caldecott said the all-rounder, who lived in England as a child when his father Lance played there and had himself played seven seasons for Nottinghamshire, was extremely concerned about his reputation in Britain.
At the time of the tweet, Modi was one of the most powerful men in cricket and any statement of his was likely to be taken seriously, the court was told.
Lawyers said that, in 2007 and 2008, Cairns captained the Chandigarh Lions in three competitions in the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which flourished briefly before the ascendancy of the IPL.
The allegation made by Modi related to the second and third of these competitions, between March and April 2008 and October and November that year.
Caldecott said that, in October 2008, Cairns was called to an ICL directors meeting at a hotel where, according to the cricketer, his denial of rumours of his alleged involvement in match-fixing appeared to be accepted.
“No specific charges of match-fixing were ever put to Mr Cairns. No names of any accusers were mentioned.
“He was never informed after his departure that statements had been taken — mainly later — from Indian players alleging corrupt activity by various players including him.”
Counsel said that Cairns was then effectively suspended for not declaring an ankle injury which had been exacerbated by a charity walk completed in memory of his late sister.
He returned to New Zealand for an operation, was never contacted with any complaint and, in 2009, was entered for the IPL auction. Caldecott said that the initial publication of Modi’s tweet in the jurisdiction was up to 95 people while the initial publication of the Cricinfo article was between 450 and 1,500.
“Of course these receivers are bound to be cricket fans — it’s the classic kind of allegation which runs and runs — one fan to another to another — match-fixing is a subject which is always topical.
“Be in no doubt that to everyone who hears it — Mr Cairns’s entire career is tainted.”
He told the judge: “Preserving the integrity of any sport depends as much on vindicating the falsely accused as it does on convicting the guilty.” The hearing is expected to last two weeks.
