Chris Cairns court case: Chris Harris remembers ‘surprise’ decision in ICL

The perjury trial of Cairns, 45, entered its third week at Southwark Crown Court

Independent Sports Staff
Monday 26 October 2015 20:20 EDT
Chris Harris told the court that Cairns ‘seemed like he wasn’t pleased’ his team had won a game
Chris Harris told the court that Cairns ‘seemed like he wasn’t pleased’ his team had won a game (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Former New Zealand cricketer Chris Harris remembered a “number of strange incidents” in matches Chris Cairns played in India, a court heard on Monday.

The perjury trial of Cairns, 45, entered its third week at Southwark Crown Court by hearing evidence from former international team-mate Harris via video link.

They both played in the Indian Cricket League when they retired from the international game, Harris for the Hyderabad Heroes and Cairns for the Chandigarh Lions.

Harris recalled the coin toss when he captained Hyderabad in an October 2008 match against Cairns, who was heading the Chandigarh Lions.

“At that particular venue in Chandigarh, the toss tended to be very important,” he said. “The team that won the toss and bowled first won eight out of 10 games. It was a big advantage to bowl first.”

But Cairns elected to bat, Harris told the court. He said: “That was a surprise.”

Harris also mentioned a game between the Mumbai Champs and the Chandigarh Lions in 2008. Mumbai batted first and scored a “modest total”, then Chandigarh struggled in the run chase until the wicketkeeper came in and scored very quickly to win the game.

Harris said it was a “splendid innings”, which turned the game on its head, and the television camera focused on Cairns, who seemed unhappy with the upward swing in his team’s fortunes. “It was an unusual expression, it seemed he wasn’t pleased they had won,” he told the jury. But when shown video footage in court of that game, Harris agreed Cairns had celebrated the victory “with a fair amount of emotion”, but added: “I don’t believe that was the footage I saw”.

Cairns is charged with perverting the course of justice and perjury. He denies both charges.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in