Chris Cairns's wife has been accused of lying to help her husband at his London trial, and has faced uncomfortable questions about the start of her relationship with the former cricket star.
Mel Cairns gave evidence for the defence at the Southwark Crown Court trial on Thursday, speaking via video link from Canberra.
Under cross examination, the Australian was accused of supporting her husband to the point of lying, both in the current trial and in evidence for Cairns's libel case against Indian cricket boss Lalit Modi at the British High Court in 2012.
"You have every motive to support your husband in this case, just as you did in the High Court ... even if it involves not telling the truth," prosecutor Sasha Wass QC said.
Ms Cairns agreed she was devoted to her husband, saying that if the couple could afford for her to travel to England she would be supporting Cairns in London.
"I would rather be there. It broke my heart to watch Chris walk every day alone to and from court, and knowing he was going home alone by himself."
However, she was adamant her support did not extend to lying for him.
"I would never lie to help my husband, especially in a court of law."
Ms Cairns faced a number of personal questions, and described how she and Cairns began seeing each other during a beach cricket tournament in Australia in 2008, when Cairns's then-wife was in England.
She told the court she went to England several months later to give their relationship a go, and denied previous evidence that Cairns discussed match fixing in front of her.
Eleanor Riley, the ex-wife of Cairns's former teammate Lou Vincent, has previously told the court Ms Cairns was present on a night out when Cairns spoke about match fixing.
Ms Riley said Vincent and Cairns were fixing games in the Indian Cricket League and she was worried they were going to get caught, but that Cairns reassured her "everyone was doing it in India".
Ms Cairns on Thursday told the court she did not hear that conversation.
"I don't remember what we talked about. I definitely didn't hear her express any concerns about Lou," Ms Cairns said.
"If I found out (about match fixing) in the first week of our relationship I absolutely would not have had a relationship with him," she said.
Cairns is charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice in relation the libel case, in which he stated that he "never, ever cheated at cricket".
