Lou Vincent "absolutely hated" Chris Cairns, who he felt owed him US$250,000 for helping fix matches in the India Cricket League, Southwark Crown Court has been told.

Vincent's ex-wife Elly Riley told the Cairns perjury trial that her-then husband was angry after he hadn't been paid, a year after he allegedly fixed games in 2008 at the behest of his captain at the Chandigarh Lions.

Riley, who has a testy relationship with Vincent after they separated in 2012, was the third trial witness to allege she had had one-on-one match-fixing discussions with Cairns.

The other two were Vincent and New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum.



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Vincent put his non-payment down to an Indian Cricket League (ICL) game in which he had "stuffed up" a fix and infuriated Cairns by hitting a six then a four, when his fixing role had been to get out cheaply.

"He called very upset, he was crying," Riley told the jury.

"He said he'd lost Chris Cairns a lot of money. He just said Chris is angry. He said he was working for Chris.

"He was upset, but he was angry, it was a mixture. He thought he should have been paid even though he did not do what he was meant to do."

Riley was also able to give a second-hand picture around Cairns' sudden departure from the ICL in late 2008, at a time when match-fixing rumours were rife.

Her evidence brought defence lawyer Orlando Pownall, QC, quickly to his feet, labelling it "double hearsay", but Mr Justice Sweeney allowed Riley to continue.

"(Vincent) had told me Chris had been called into a hotel room, and confronted about match-fixing," she told the court. A story was devised that Cairns had injured a leg, rather than been suspended, she had been told.

"They wanted to protect the tournament being classed as dirty, I guess."

She had been "shocked" with the news, which landed shortly after she had confronted Cairns in England over her match-fixing fears, she told the jury.



FIXER's WIFE

Worried about Vincent's fixing, Riley had been assured by Cairns "everyone did it" and they "wouldn't get caught", the London court was told.

Riley told the court about her life as a fixer's wife, married to a man who she agreed lied to her and cheated on her.

She talked to the court of fearfully pulling a hoodie over her head when she learned she was on a fixing-money pick-up in Birmingham.

She spoke to the jury of how Vincent in 2008 told her he wasn't involved in fixing, then rang her in tears days later saying he was, a fix had gone wrong and he had cost Cairns "a lot of money".

Cairns, 45, is charged with perjury for allegedly lying under oath in a libel trial, saying he'd "never" cheated at cricket.



He has denied the charges. The maximum sentence for perjury is seven years' jail.

A fretting Riley spoke to Cairns in a English bar in mid-2008, where she, Vincent, Cairns and his then-girlfriend Mel were drinking in the company of former England player Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff.



Flintoff was not part of the fixing conversation, the court was told.



CONCERN

Riley talked to Cairns one-on-one about the match-fixing, then Mel Cairns – as she is now – joined them.

"I was concerned about Lou – I knew by then Lou was approaching other players," she told the court.

"I was saying that I was scared about Lou, that he'll get caught, that they would all get caught."

By "they", she meant the Chandigarh Lions ICL team, captained by Cairns with Vincent opened the batting.

"Chris reassured me everyone did it. They wouldn't get caught. They were confident they wouldn't get caught."

Vincent told the court last week Cairns had introduced him to fixing.

Pownall put it to Riley that on the night she had been drunk, and crying in the toilets with Mel Cairns.

He suggested she was incapable of remembering what happened.

"I know it sounds it, but it was not unclear to me," Riley said.

She had eaten a five-course meal at a Thai restaurant before taking a taxi to the bar with the others.

"When I've had a large meal it doesn't matter how much I drink, I was as clear as a bell."

Riley said the toilet incident "didn't happen".

"I would remember," she said. "I'd hate for my makeup to smudge, so I don't like to cry."

Riley finally got to take the witness box, on what was her fourth visit to the court.



BAD LIGHT

The previous three times she went home without giving evidence, as the trial was held up by a series of procedural delays and reschedulings, the courtroom equivalent of bad light stopping play in cricket.

Vincent last week told the jury he took orders from Cairns to score slowly in some games, scoring 10-15 runs off 20 balls, then getting dismissed.

He went on to match-fix in five countries, and has now been suspended from cricket for life after admitting it to authorities in 2013.

Riley, who is English, told the court about the stresses of living with Vincent, who she was married to for six years.

They parted "not at all" on good terms.

Vincent had a habit of "acting shifty" when Cairns phoned, moving away from her to talk, she told the London court. She had not heard the voice of Cairns, but had been told by Vincent it was him.

Riley was focused and confident in the witness stand, even managing to laugh a couple of times, once at question about her husband: "Which one? One, or two?" she chuckled.

But her life with Vincent came across as fraught. He made failed efforts to tempt other players to fix, lived in fear of being caught, and fell out with Cairns, a man he had idolised and who had attended their wedding.

After playing the ICL in India, Vincent went to England to be with Riley and play club cricket, telling her he had stopped fixing.



He'd told her the Chandigarh players feared it would be the end of their careers if they didn't do what Cairns asked, Riley told the court.

Vincent told her about signals players made if they were about to spot-fix, and his view was that "any match that was televised, it was fixed", she said.

"You'd tap a hat, making a movement that would signal to another player that you were about to play badly."

And she told the court about a trip to Birmingham to do a visa application, which morphed into a call at a laundrette to pick up fixing money.

She was terrified, she said.

"I panicked, and then put a hoodie over my head."

Riley was told in the morning that she would not be charged by police, for knowing her husband had received money for match-fixing.

New Zealand skipper McCullum reported two spot-fixing approaches he said were from Cairns, one in India, another in England, both in 2008, the court was told last week.

"I'm very certain about the occasions I was asked to spot-fix," he said to the court.

Spot-fixing can involve under-performing – batting slowly – for set periods of a match, to influence betting odds and the outcome of games, so those with insider knowledge stand to win money.

While he alleged Cairns approached him in 2008, McCullum did not report it until February 2011.

Under International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, players approached to fix games are obliged to report what they know. Failure to report is a minimum one-year suspension from international cricket.

"It's really difficult to explain. In hindsight, I should have," McCullum told the court.

Southwark Crown Court has heard tales of a half-naked woman gifted as a "present"; allegations of lies, gambling, rigged cricket matches, depression, failed marriages, recorded conversations, clandestine hotel room meetings and more.

Court officials last week had to find the public seats in a press box already crammed with reporters, as Vincent and McCullum gave evidence against a man both said was once their hero.

Sports-mad Kiwis in town for the Rugby World Cup have also found their way into the public gallery. Some were there on Monday, having made their way back from Saturday's quarterfinal in Cardiff.

As well as the public and journalists, among the observers are lawyers, police and cricket anti-corruption officials.

The jury's verdict – estimated to be five weeks away – will not mark the end of the story, as there will be legal and cricket repercussions.