Cairns has always denied any wrongdoing and described match-fixing claims against him as "despicable lies".
Both men have said they will be fully contesting the allegations.
Cairns won $174,000 in damages and $775,000 in costs when he sued Modi, who made spot-fixing allegations on Twitter in 2010.
Cairns was arrested and charged by the London Metropolitan Police in September, and remains on unconditional bail until the trial.
He is accused of lying during his written testimony in the libel action when he said he had "never cheated at cricket and would never contemplate doing so".
Modi has also issued legal proceedings against Cairns to claw back $4.9 million in damages and costs.
The prosecution asked for the trial to be held off until October to allow several cricketers to give evidence during an international break. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is expected to be among them.
Perjury conviction precedents in the UK include the novelist and politician Lord Jeffrey Archer in 2001. He was sentenced to four years' jail on two counts of perjury and two of perverting the course of justice.
The maximum sentence, if convicted, is seven years.
