Cairns threatens to sue IPL

Wellington:

A day after being removed from IPL auction list due to his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal during a stint with the unofficial ICL, Chris Cairns is exploring legal action against Lalit Modi over "defamatory" comments against him.

Cairns' lawyer Andrew Fitch-Holland said his client had recently been offered high-profile coaching roles, and any "defamatory" comment will jeopardise his future earnings.

The Dubai-based former Kiwi all-rounder is exploring legal action against Lalit Modi and several overseas media outlets for the comments explaining his removal from the list of 97 players registered for the IPL auction on January 19.

"Chris believes he has no future in any form of the game. He feels he's been made a pariah," Fitch-Holland told NZPA from London.

"He said to me today 'that's me finished in cricket for the next 30 years'. He's devastated, he's angry.

"If the ICC are running cricket then surely they must have some degree of control over this sort of behaviour." he added.

After long discussions with Cairns, Fitch-Holland had engaged libel lawyers to explore what action they would take.

Cairns' name was included in the original list for the auction but Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi had said on Tuesday the Kiwi's name was removed because of the match-fixing taint.

Cairns, 39, was suspended from the ICL in October 2008 on what was described as "disciplinary grounds" after captaining the Chandigarh Lions in three matches.

Cairns, who once held the world record for the most sixes in Tests (87) and is one of only seven players to have reached the double of 200 wickets and 3,000 runs, was a Wisden cricketer of the year in 2000.

However, his career was repeatedly disrupted by injury and he last played Test cricket in 2004 before ending his international career two years later following a Twenty20 match against the West Indies.