Cairns involved in blackmailing youngsters: Modi’s lawyer tells court
By CricketCountry Staff
Melbourne: Mar 15, 2012
Lalit Modi’s lawyer has informed a court that the former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns was involved in a corrupt scheme that involved blackmailing young cricketers.
According to a report in MiD-Day, Modi’s attorney Ronald Thwaites informed London High Court that Cairns had persuaded six Chandigarh Lions players to bowl no balls and to bat slowly with the help of Dinesh Mongia in a now-defucnt rebel Indian Champions League (ICL) game.
The report said Cairns was to benefit from a local bookmaker by the deal. Thwaites further added that former New Zealand all-rounder’s bank deposits and former cricketer Gaurav Gupta’s evidence suggested that the player was asked by Cairs to underperform.
He was quoted by the newspaper as saying, “We submit (Cairns) is telling lies because he cannot deal with the truth.
Cairns had earlier denied the allegations and asked the High Court for substantial libel damages over an accusation of match-fixing which had turned his achievements to nil.
Cairns has sued Modi, who has been banned by the Indian cricket board over charges of corruption in the IPL, for libel. The case opened at the London High Court Monday.
Modi, in a tweet in January 2010, had accused Cairns of match-fixing and said that it was the main reason he was excluded from the list for the IPL auction.