Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns has admitted that he was rocked by the overnight arrest of a lawyer who was a key witness in his London High Court defamation trial over allegations of match-fixing.
Cairns won a libel trial against Indian cricket powerbroker Lalit Modi in 2012 over claims of corruption in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL) for which he was awarded 174,000 dollars in damages and Modi was ordered to pay Cairns' legal bills of 774,000 dollars.
According to Stuff.co.nz, however, Andrew Fitch-Holland, who confirmed Cairns' claims that the player was sacked by the ICL Chandigarh Lions team for failing to disclose an injury instead of a match-fixing charge, was recently arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice.
Cairns said that he and Fitch-Holland, his longtime close friend, spoke with each other last week regarding 'other projects' and that he became aware of his arrest only through news reports, although he hoped that people keep an open mind with regards to whatever is going on.
Cairns also confirmed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) and police have been in contact with him for the first time since fresh allegations of match-fixing emerged in December, adding that he is willing to co-operate in order to get the matter resolved.
Media reports last year named Cairns alongside former teammates Lou Vincent and Darryl Tuffey as the subjects of an ICC investigation into allegations of match-fixing.