Personality: Christopher Cairns - Maverick Kiwi takes wings in tough world
From the Deccan Herald, November 24, 1999
By R Kaushik

Underachiever. Problem child. Indisciplined. Severely injury-prone. Inconsistent.

These are tags Christopher Lance Cairns has had to carry around his neck like a millstone for over a decade now. Slowly, but surely, the Cantabrian is now on a mission to erase these undesirable epithets and stamp his authority as a match-winner non-pareil in a New Zealand side high on commitment and determination, but just that little short on class.

The quality players that have come out of Kiwiland have been few and far between. For every Hadlee, there were a hundred Chatfields and Sneddens, for every Crowe, there were several CoË neys and Edgars. If Sir Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe, the two genuine world-class contributors, were the bulwark behind which the Kiwis achieved unprecedented Test success in the mid to late 80s, the fading away from the world scene of these two champions meant the Kiwis slid back into relative anonymity at the world stage.

In a burst of inspiration, the selectors blooded Cairns at the turn of the decade against big brothers and staunch rivals Australia on the bouncy WACA track and in the intervening ten years, Cairns has taken his team-mates, selectors, fans and critics alike on a roller-coaster ride and subjected them to the whole gamut of emotions.

That he is looked upon as an underachiever is in itself a tribute to the undisputed skills the son of the burly Lance Cairns possesses in no small measure. The similarity between father and son, however, ends with the surname.

Unless, of course, you consider that both are right-arm medium-pacers and hard-hitting right-hand batsmen. But where papa Lance was a mere prop to the Hadlee show and a batsman of considerable power but little else, Chris is an all- rounder in the truest sense of the word.

On the back of either only his batting or only his bowling, the younger Cairns can walk into a New Zealand side of any era, and will be a strong contender for a slot in any other international team as well. The problem, however, has been a suspect temperament and a frustrating inconsistency, both of which Cairns has embarked on setting right.

When he is on song, though, Cairns is a sight to behold. The Indians, whom he has always troubled more with bat than ball, will bear witness to that. Having been at the receiving end of two astonishing Cairns hundreds in the shorter version -- in India in 1995 and then in New Zealand earlier this year -- Sachin Tendulkar`s men are perfectly aware of the irrevocable damage a Cairns hurricane can cause.

The perceived attitude problems that are supposË ed to have afflicted the impressionable Cairns surfaced under the coaching regime of former New Zealand captain Glenn Turner, who was never popular with his side. The Canterbury man loves to live life to the fullest, and it wasn`t an aspect that went down too well with the more conservative Turner. Cairns had to suffer the ignominy of being dropped for indiscipline from the decisive one-dayer in Bombay against the Indians in 1995, a slight the 29-year-old is unlikely to forget for the rest of his life.

Under the dynamic but fun-loving approach that former Australian wicket-keeper Steve Rixon brought with him on his appointment as Kiwi coach, however, Cairns attained full bloom. He has now tempered his aggression, curbed his natural instincts marginally, embraced added responsibility and is more aware now than ever before that he is one of the seniormost, as well as most signifiË cant, performers in the Kiwi ranks.

Alongside his classy captain Stephen Fleming and the verbose but multifaceted Dion Nash, Cairns has been entrusted the task of carrying New Zealand cricket into the millennium on a high, and the 29-year-old has responded in magnificent style. He had a superb World Cup, playing a major part in New Zealand`s unexpected entry into the semifinal, and capped off a fine season in England by breaking the back of the England batting at Lord`s and then turning in a man of the match- winning all-round performance at the Oval, New Zealand winning both Tests en route to a path-breaking 2-1 series triumph.

A serious calf injury that ruled him out of action early last year when South Africa visited New Zealand was just the latest in a long list that Cairns has done well to defy and surmount with some panache. An injury-free Cairns is the best thing New Zealand cricket can hope for, for he has both the skill and the werewithal to turn a match on its head in the bat of an eyelid.

He is also the life and soul of the New Zealand team, both on the field and off it. His infectious enthusiasm -- paraded during the Guy Fawkes Night fireworks at Rajkot -- rubs off on the rest of the team, and Cairns, never chary of a word or two, hits it off quite nicely with the opposition too.

More than hundred wickets in both versions of the game, and close to 2000 runs in Test cricket to go with more than 2500 runs in the one-day game is not a bad return for ten years of blood, sweat and tears. For someone with Cairns` potential, however, one suspects he hasn't done enough justice to his talent either. Now that he is on the prowl, desperate to right the wrongs, it makes him a more dangerous customer than ever before.