Chris Cairns took the witness stand late last night (NZT) to give evidence in his own defence - and immediately denied any involvement in match-fixing.

He revealed he was being paid just $75,000 in his final years of playing cricket for New Zealand.

Wearing jeans and a dark-blue suit jacket, but no tie, Cairns walked from the dock to the witness stand in the Southwark Crown Court to give evidence in his own defence. He is on trial for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

For three weeks, Cairns had listened to Crown witnesses giving evidence, in particular former New Zealand team-mates Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum, who accusing their "hero" of match-fixing.

Now it was Cairns' turn.

He swore an oath to tell the truth and confirmed his name as Christopher Lance Cairns, before his lawyer, Orlando Pownall, QC, directly asked him: "Were you involved in match-fixing?"

"No," said Cairns.

Pownall then asked: "Did you contemplate match-fixing?"

"No," said Cairns.

Cairns, who was born in Picton, said he had been an "active young boy who loved cricket". He was "always tall for my age" and ended up playing mens-grade cricket as a young teenager.
He went on to play for New Zealand and Nottinghamshire, like his father Lance, and had an "illustrious career" from the late 1980s until 2006.

For the last few years of his international career, Cairns had retired from tests and was playing only one-day internationals. He said his New Zealand Cricket contract was worth around $75,000, and he earned a further $25,000 to $40,000 in speaking engagements and media commitments.

"Once your star starts to wane, there are not the same opportunities," he told the jury.

In 2006, he met the Shah family, who were involved in the diamond trade.

Vijay Shah had paid a "significant sum" for a coaching clinic that Cairns arranged to be held at the Lord's cricket ground in London.

Cairns was looking for work opportunities outside cricket and started working with the Shahs in the diamond trade, moving to Antwerp and Dubai.

Early today, he was still on the witness stand, and was expected to continue giving evidence for the rest of the day and possibly overnight tonight (NZT).

Earlier last night, a former South African international fast bowler told the court how Cairns had told his team-mates he had been sacked because of match-fixing allegations - but that he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Andrew Hall played cricket for the South African national team and later for the Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) alongside Cairns.

He was the final Crown witness in the trial, and told the jury about the moment Cairns told his Chandigarh teammates in October 2008 that his contract had been terminated.

Cairns said the ICL board had asked him to leave the tournament because of allegations of match-fixing, said Hall.

"He said he was innocent and if we heard of rumours, we should protest his innocence."

The public reason given for Cairns' contract being terminated was an undisclosed ankle injury which affected his performance while playing for Chandigarh.

Hall also recalled a conversation between Howard Beer, the anti-corruption officer at the ICL, and the Chandigarh Lions.

The topic of conversation was a match between Chandigarh and the Mumbai Champs on October 13, 2008.

Cairns, Lou Vincent and Daryl Tuffey were present, said Hall.

Beer told the players "irregularities" in that match were being investigated and players should report any match-fixing approaches.

Hall explained to the jury that "irregularities" in cricket included suspicious bowling or batting by players, or generally underperforming.