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. McCullum had previously told the court that Cairns' proposition concerned spot-fixing. Former all-rounder Cairns 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 Calcutta in 2008 on the eve of the first IPl.
"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 any more."
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 after being accused of match-fixing on Twitter in January 2010, but now faces allegations that he lied during the case.