Daniel Vettori has been accused of lying about when he first heard of match-fixing allegations against Chris Cairns, after admitting the date he gave anti-corruption officials was out by two years.
In a statement to the Anti Corruption and Security Unit in 2011, then-Black Caps captain Vettori said Brendon McCullum came to him in 2010 and told him Cairns had tried to get him involved in fixing.
However, giving evidence via video link at Cairns's perjury trial in London on Thursday, Vettori conceded he had the date wrong and McCullum actually spoke to him in 2008.
"I was always conflicted around those timings, and, from understanding the timeline of other people speaking, I realise that I've made a mistake," he told the trial at Southwark Crown Court.
"I was confused because of the 2008 tour to Bangladesh in October, and then the 2010 tour to Bangladesh in October."
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Cairns's lawyer, Orlando Pownall QC, however, suggested it was not a mistake and Vettori was lying to avoid punishment for not reporting the incident sooner.
"I'm going to suggest your timing is wrong, and deliberately wrong," Mr Pownall said.
Vettori rejected that, saying: "I've never been concerned about being sanctioned ... that never crossed my mind."
Mr Pownall also questioned whether Vettori was sure of what he had been told, suggesting whatever McCullum said was actually "inconsequential".
Vettori again disagreed, saying it was "a conversation that I'll never forget".
"I acknowledge that I made a mistake around (the date), but I remember the words that came out of Brendon's mouth," he said.
"Chris was one of my best friends in cricket, he was a mentor to me.
"To think Brendon had been put in that position, being asked to spot fix, we were stunned. We never anticipated Brendon revealing something like that."
Vettori said he did not question McCullum about why he had not told him earlier.
"I knew it was an incredibly difficult decision, because I knew how close he was to Chris and how incredibly hard it would have been for him."
In other evidence, Vettori told the court about another "fairly innocuous" incident that arose after he and Cairns had done a promotional tour for a toothpaste campaign in 2006 in India.
Each man was to receive $US15,000 ($A20,794.34) for the tour.
"I asked Chris to use that money to buy a diamond, because he was working for a diamond company at the time," Vettori said.
"I didn't receive the diamond, Chris returned the money in pounds about two years later."
Vettori said he was given about STG9000 in 20-pound notes.
Cairns is facing a charge of perjury in relation to a 2012 libel trial in which he stated that he "never, ever cheated at cricket".
He and co-defendant Andrew Fitch-Holland also face a charge of perverting the course of justice for allegedly trying to get another New Zealand cricketer, Lou Vincent, to provide a false statement for the libel case.
