NZC backs McCullum after Cairns acquittal

New Zealand Cricket has said it will support Brendon McCullum if he should face any sort of difficulty after Chris Cairns was acquitted of perjury in a London court. The New Zealand captain had testified against the former allrounder during the trial.

"Brendon is an employee of ours, so we've got a duty of care around him that makes sure he's in a safe working environment and free of harassment and all that humiliation stuff," NZC chairman Stuart Heal told New Zealand Herald. "I hope it doesn't come to that, but of course we will support Brendon. As I say, he's our current captain and an employee of New Zealand Cricket. We need him on the park leading our side and doing what he does best."

McCullum had told the Southwark Crown Court that the first approach from Cairns had come in his hotel bar in Kolkata ahead of the opening match of the 2008 IPL. Cairns, he claimed, followed that up with a subsequent phone call, before contacting McCullum at Worcester in June, when he was on tour with the New Zealand Test team. He added that he turned down the offers each time.

The perjury charge against Cairns related to his successful 2012 libel action against former IPL chairman Lalit Modi at the High Court in London, which arose as a result of a tweet sent by Modi in 2010 accusing Cairns of fixing during the now defunct Indian Cricket League.

In the course of the libel trial, Cairns stated that he had "never" cheated at cricket, and would never contemplate doing so, a statement that attracted the interests of the Crown Prosecution Service in the wake of leaked testimony given by his former team-mates, Lou Vincent and McCullum, to the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU).

Heal said McCullum should not be criticised for delaying the reporting of his conversation with Cairns - it took place in 2008 but McCullum first reported it to the ACU in 2011. "I think it's really important that we understand [he] came forward for the right reasons," Heal said. "I think with Brendon, he said - didn't he - in the trial that he delayed his report on the basis that he was reluctant to incriminate a friend. And I think what was happening in 2008 and now, today - it is a different environment."

The ICC also acknowledged Cairns' acquittal. "The ICC notes the decision of the jury finding Mr Chris Cairns not guilty and confirms its utmost respect for the process that has been followed," it said in a statement. "The ICC and its [anti-corruption unit] will continue to work closely with and provide all possible support to players in order that the fight against corruption can be tackled effectively and collectively."