Former Kiwi cricketer Chris Cairns found not guilty of perjury

Former New Zealand cricket star Chris Cairns has been found not guilty at his London trial.

The jury at the Southwark Crown Court trial cleared Cairns of perjury and perverting the course of justice on Monday after deliberating for just over 10 hours.

Cairns's co-defendant, barrister Andrew Fitch-Holland, was also found not guilty of perverting the course of justice.

As the verdicts were read out, Cairns stood calmly, holding back tears, while Fitch-Holland began shaking.

Cairns mouthed thank you to the jury as the verdicts were read out, then mouthed the words again at each juror filed out of the court room.

When Fitch-Holland sat and put his head on the table in front of him, Cairns reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

The charges stemmed from a 2012 libel case in which Cairns stated that he "never, ever cheated at cricket", and for which he and Fitch-Holland were accused of trying to get former Black Cap Lou Vincent to provide a false statement.

Vincent was one of the Crown's key witnesses in the trial, which began on October 5, and told the court that he began match fixing on orders from Cairns when they played together in the Indian Cricket League in 2008.

Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum also appeared in the witness box, giving evidence that Cairns tried to recruit him to fix games in 2008.

A string of other cricket celebrities, including former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, and former Black Caps Shane Bond, Chris Harris, Kyle Mills and Andre Adams also gave evidence for the prosecution.

Cairns has consistently denied claims about his involvement in match fixing, and his lawyers argued that witnesses gave evidence to serve their own interests.

The defence said Vincent was a liar and had continued to lie in the witness box, while McCullum's story had changed continually since he first gave an official statement about Cairns in 2011.