Big names of the cricketing world are among an extensive witness list for the perjury trial of former Black Caps allrounder Chris Cairns in London.
Chris Cairns leaving Southwark Crown Court on Monday Photo: RNZ/Cushla Norman
The former New Zealand all-rounder is accused of lying under oath during a defamation case he won against the former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi.
Mr Modi had accused him online of match-fixing in the Indian Cricket League.
Jury selection has been under way at the Southwark Crown Court overnight.
Cairns sat in court alongside his co-defendent, lawyer Andrew Fitch-Holland, who is charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the libel case.
The long list of potential witnesses read out to court included New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum, former Black Caps Mark Greatbatch and Stephen Fleming and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting.
The Crown's witness list included McCullum, Lou Vincent, Vincent's ex-wife Eleanor Riley, Shane Bond, Kyle Mills, Andre Adams and Chris Harris.
Fleming, Greatbatch, Cairns' wife Mel Cairns and McCullum's former mental skills coach Kerry Schwalger were on the list of witnesses or potential witnesses for the defence.
The trial formally opens on Wednesday at 2pm UK time. It had been set down for four weeks but the judge, Justice McSweeney, said it could continue until 20 November.
