Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting is one of a host of big name current and former cricket stars set to give testimonies at former New Zealand cricketer, Chris Cairns' perjury trial.

Cairns, 45, is facing a perjury charge from a 2012 British libel case against Indian businessman Lalit Modi. It is alleged that Cains misled the court by making statements under oath he knew to be false.

In the court proceedings in question, Cairns stated that he "never, ever cheated at cricket," and that he would never "contemplate doing such a thing".

The former Black caps all-rounder brought the case to court after Modi took to Twitter and alleged Cairns was booted out of the Indian Cricket League due to match-fixing.

Cairns won £90,000 (A$193,000) in damages against Modi, the former boss of the Indian Premier League, after Justice Bean ruled that Modi had "singularly failed" to provide evidence that Cains was involved in match fixing.

If Cairns is found guilty of perjury in Britain, he faces a maximum sentence of seven years' jail.

The trial will also include the testimonies of current and former New Zealand cricketers Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Stephen Fleming, Lou Vincent, Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, Andre Adams and Mark Greatbach.

The trial began yesterday, while the first witness is not expected to give evidence until next Monday.

Cairns played 62 Test matches and 215 One-day Internationals for New Zealand, in career spanning nearly 20 years.