LONDON: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was present when New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum received a ‘business proposition’ from ex-Black Caps star Chris Cairns, he told a London court on Tuesday.

Appearing at Cairns’ perjury trial via video link from Australia, Ponting, 40, said that he had been in a hotel room with McCullum in India in 2008 when the New Zealander recei­ved a phone-call from Cairns.

Ponting said that when McCullum told him it was a ‘business’ matter, he ‘didn’t ask any more questions’.

McCullum had previously told the court that Cairns’ proposition concerned spot-fixing.

Former all-rounder Cairns, one of New Zealand’s greatest ever players, denies one charge of perjury and one charge of perverting the court of justice.

Ponting told Southwark Crown Court: “I was staying with Brendon in the [Kolkata Knight Riders] team hotel in Kolkata in 2008 on the eve of the first IPL [Indian Premier League] tournament.

“We were just sitting, sharing a drink, when he received a phone call — his phone rang. It was a very brief phone conversation, probably less than five minutes.

“He put the phone down, hung up and said it was Cairnsy and he ‘just made me a business proposition’.”

Ponting added: “I didn’t ask any more questions. We stayed together for a short time. I didn’t ask any more questions ... As soon as I heard it was about business, I wasn’t interested anymore.”

The former batsman, who retired in 2013, also said he was unaware that McCullum had later met Cairns and stated that they have never discussed the phone-call again.

The charges facing Cairns relate to a libel case that the 45-year-old brought against Lalit Modi, the founder of the IPL, in March 2012.

Cairns successfully sued Modi for £1.4 million ($2.14 million) after being accused of match-fixing on Twitter in January 2010, but now faces allegations that he lied during the case.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play