I am in a bizarre and scary situation, claims Cairns

Auckland: Irate at being portrayed as a match-fixer, former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns today said he is in an "absurd, bizarre and scary" situation and lashed out at Brendon McCullum and Lou Vincent for naming him in their testimonies to the ICC.

Back in the country after being interviewed by the London Metropolitan Police, Cairns reiterated that allegations of him approaching McCullum to become the part of a fixing ring were not true. The 43-year-old also revealed that three former New Zealand players -- ex-captains Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills -- have also given statements to the ICC in this matter but have not named him. Cairns has not yet been charged with any criminal offence in London but has been told that McCullum has testified against him, claiming to have been approached by the all-rounder in March 2008 during the IPL. "It is beyond doubt that regardless of what certain people have claimed in the media, Brendon McCullum waited three years before reporting this alleged approach to an ICC anti-corruption official," Cairns read from a statement after reaching here. "It is misleading at the least for a host of people to claim that he reported my alleged corrupt approach within a timely fashion or that there had been a small delay. "Mr McCullum first made his allegation to the ICC`s ACSU on February 17, 2011. Not only was this nearly three years after the alleged approach, but importantly 13 months before the trial in March, 2012, of my case in the London High Court against Lalit Modi about match fixing," he asserted referring to the defamation he filed against the former IPL commissioner. Cairns claimed that allegations against him have already been proven false in the court of law. "At that trial, every allegation that I was match fixing was shown to be false. It is extraordinary that Mr McCullum told the ACSU in February, 2011, that three years previously I approached him to match-fix, yet neither he nor the ASCU corruption officer who took his statement, Mr John Rose, took that information to the ICC or informed Mr Modi or anyone else of this startling revelation," he said. Cairns said Fleming, Vettori and Mills have not taken his name in any of their statements. "These three players have made no direct accusation against me. These players are Stephen Fleming, Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills, the brother of New Zealand Cricket Players` Association head Heath Mills," Cairns said. "Two of these men made statements supporting Mr McCullum`s claim that he spoke to them. The third man told investigators his memory was foggy and he could not make a statement in support of Mr McCullum. "It is also significant that none of those players seems to have spoken to anyone at the ICC or anyone at any other organisation about my alleged conversation with Mr McCullum until this year." Cairns also lashed out at the disgraced Vincent, with whom he played in the now-defunct unsanctioned Indian Cricket League. "In 2008 he had a lot of problems that he has admitted to. I endeavoured to become a friend to him in these difficult times. He has betrayed the friendship I offered him and now seeks to portray himself as a whistleblower," Cairns said. "He is nothing of the sort. The truth is he has been caught cheating and seeks to mitigate his sins by blaming others. The allegations he and his ex-wife make against me are despicable lies," he asserted. "As a result of my trip to London, I also understand no person has made any allegation which Mr Vincent and his ex-wife have made against me. "I find this situation truly absurd, bizarre and scary. I now wait to see what happens next. I am hopeful that proper process will be followed and that I will be cleared of these allegations," he added. Cairns insisted that he had never fixed a match in his career. "Over the last few years I have felt the influence of nameless, faceless people casting aspersions about me throughout the world of cricket and perhaps beyond," he said. "I have a small group of people in my corner and they are helping me now. There are dark forces at play. The just-concluded trip to England has not persuaded me to think any differently," he concluded.