Chris Cairns, former New Zealand cricketer, is fighting perjury charges in London.

If, as many have suggested, the Chris Cairns match-fixing saga is ever turned into a Hollywood movie, Daryl Tuffey knows exactly what kind of character he'd be.

The fall guy. The one "who's been brought in by someone saying I've done something – that's the part I'd play. That's the part I have been playing."

Tuffey - known as Hightower during his Black Cap career - has been a towering presence in the Chris Cairns perjury trial playing out in London's Southwark Crown Court. The 'elephant in the room', Tuffey was accused by his former teammate Lou Vincent of involvement in matchfixing.

He has always denied the charge, was cleared by Scotland Yard of involvement in the conspiracy, and says he has never been called to give evidence for or against his old fast bowling partner.

After the accusations broke in 2013, Tuffey said he'd been asked by "some muppet from the ICC" to step down from his club cricket team in Sydney.

"I said 'no I'm not, I've done nothing wrong so there's no need to'. I said 'you've got no grounds', they just left it."

He said he had voluntarily stepped down from his club side because "some muppets" were trying to take pictures of him and it was detracting from the team. "We won anyway," he says.

"My name gets mentioned in rumour and all of a sudden it's guilt by association."

Since the Cairns trial began in October, Tuffey said he'd been following his old mate's fortunes closely.

"Part of me finds it quite humorous. Like diamond deals and bags of cash, things like that. If that happened, I don't know. It should be a Hollywood movie."

The 37-year-old jokes that Cliff Curtis would be too old to play him.

"No I want a young guy, maybe Will Smith."

Tuffey lives in a leafy street in Cronulla in Sydney's south and works as the Australian agent for Moa beer. This week there were empty boxes of Moa stacked by the fence at the front of his house, as well as children's toys. Tuffey moves in celebrity circles, and has appeared in the social pages alongside singer Guy Sebastian.

Answering the door, Tuffey speaks with an unmistakable Australian twang.

He says seeing his name being brought up in court is "disappointing".

"Obviously seeing all that stuff go through (court) a few guys have come out but it seems like a bit of hearsay. I've been following it on Twitter and stuff.co.nz as everyone else has."

He says he hasn't yet decided on Cairns' guilt or innocence.

"If he's done something then obviously a court of law will decide on that. If he hasn't then once again, that will be shown in the next couple of weeks. At the moment I've got no real feeling on the whole situation - I'm just looking after my own patch."

Asked if he feels sorry for Cairns, Tuffey says: "It can't be easy for him and his family. This whole thing has been going since 2013. but if it comes out that he has been (fixing) then it's what had to happen. But if he hasn't, that's pretty s***."

Tuffey hadn't spoken to Lou Vincent for "ages" before the trial, and says it's disappointing to have been dragged back into it.

"Dragging my name in it - I'm pretty disappointed. I'd not spoken to him for years even before it all broke."

Tuffey reiterates he has never contemplated matchfixing. But says he had heard chatter about it.

"Guys talk about it, it's natural, you look at what's going on with the Russian dopers at the moment. With cricket it's been the dark, sinister side for a while, match fixing.

"The guys will talk about it, not saying they're going to do it, but it is a topic of conversation. People ask about (former South African captain) Hansie Cronje - prime example. (Former Indian captain Mohammad) Azharuddin and now obviously all the stuff with Chris."

Tuffey agrees his name always gets mentioned with Cairns and Vincent.

"Exactly, but there's only been Vincent, Cairns and trying to get me to say what Vincent said. That's what they were trying to do. He (Vincent) is all over the shop."

Tuffey says he wasn't asked to be a witness for either side, which he found "funny, interesting".

Tuffey said he was still considering his legal options.

"The advice I've had is, as soon as (the trial) pans out we'll load some guns and come out firing. I just go by what (the lawyer) says."

Using a cricketing reference, Tuffey said he was keen to "front foot" the allegations. "I'm not going to let my name be dragged through the mud for the last two years and it be fine."

"The elephant in the room"

It was the fourth week of the trial, and a ripple of tense emotion swept over the courtroom. Crown prosecutor Sasha Wass, QC, said her first witness the next day was "Mr Tuffey".

Lawyers, journalists, police, observers in the public gallery and co-defendants Cairns and Andrew Fitch-Holland snapped to full attention.

Wass took time to realise what she had said, then corrected to "sorry, Mr Duthie", Detective Chief Superintendent Mick Duthie, head of the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command.

It was a mistake, but it showed the former Black Caps fast bowler is very much on the minds of those involved in the high-profile perjury trial, which will enter its seventh week on Monday.

Tuffey was central in the evidence of key prosecution witnesses Lou Vincent, Brendon McCullum.

He will not give evidence, nor has he been charged with any offence.

He has spoken to International Cricket Council anti-corruption investigator John Rhodes, who described him as a "fine young man".

Tuffey and Vincent played under the captaincy of Cairns at the Chandigarh Lions in 2008, in the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League.

Tuffey provided a statement to help Cairns in his 2012 libel hearing against Indian businessman Lalit Modi, which Cairns won and was awarded costs and damages.

Under cross-examination, Vincent asked defence lawyer Orlando Pownall, QC, whether Tuffey would appear as a witness.

"Where is [Tuffey] today? Is he going to help defend Chris this time around?"

Vincent told the jury he helped fix matches, with Cairns, Tuffey, and local players Dinesh Mongia, T P Singh and Gaurav Gupta.

Cairns gave opener Vincent the role of scoring 10 to 15 runs off 20 balls, then get out, the jury was told.

Vincent told the jury Cairns offered him US$50,000 (NZ$75,000) per match to under-perform by batting slowly.

He had yet to see the money. In 2010 in New Zealand, he asked Tuffey whether he had been paid.

"He said that he hadn't received a cent, and he'd f**king kill him," Vincent said.

Match fixing generally involved teams under performing, so those with inside knowledge could bet knowing the result beforehand.

Former New Zealand captain Cairns, 45, is accused of lying under oath in court when he said "I have never, ever, cheated at cricket. Nor would I ever contemplate such a thing".

Perjury is a criminal charge which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.

McCullum told the jury he felt Cairns had approached him to fix, when they met in a Kolkata hotel room in 2008.

Cairns told him Vincent and Tuffey were working with him at the Chandigarh Lions, McCullum said.

New Zealand cricket selectors were aware of match-fixing rumours swirling around Tuffey but still picked him, former selector and captain Daniel Vettori told the court.

Pownall asked how it was that the New Zealand selectors still picked Tuffey after 2008. He had been selected in 2009-2011.

"We couldn't not select him on the basis of rumours," Vettori told the court.

Tuffey's name had been discussed in relation to the rumours, by selectors – Vettori, Andy Moles, Glenn Turner and Mark Greatbatch – he said.

There were no notes, and those discussions had been more informal one-on-one conversations between individual selectors, Vettori told the court.

And both Turner and Greatbatch couldn't recall discussing the matchfixing allegations in relation to Tuffey.

Turner said: "I do recall some discussions about whether Daryl Tuffey was good enough to be in the team, but I can't recall any discussions about Daryl's involvement in match-fixing."

Tuffey also featured when Rhodes gave evidence, with Pownall suggesting efforts were made to get him to join Vincent and McCullum in reporting Cairns.

In December 2014, Rhodes flew from Adelaide to Sydney to talk to Tuffey, who the Australian Federal Police (AFP) were also interested in.

They chatted in a Rydges hotel cafe while members of the AFP sat nearby.

It was a "very general conversation" he told the court. He had not kept notes. "The conversation was not of great significance."

Pownall suggested Rhodes had pushed for a deal in which Tuffey would point the finger at Cairns, asking him to choose sides.

"You don't want to go with these guys (the AFP). Make a statement and move on," Pownall suggested he told Tuffey.

Rhodes, who described Tuffey as a "fine young man", said he could not charge Cairns with any offence, as he was outside his jurisdiction - the ICL was not sanctioned by the ICC.

Tuffey on the other hand was playing in Australia, so action could be taken against him.

Rhodes rejected the contention he was trying pressure Tuffey to give evidence against the accused.

"My role is to combat corruption, my role is not to get the evidence by any means," he told the jury.