June 13, 2004

THE series victory by England over New Zealand is just another indication of an English revival on the world stage. The Kiwis are now struggling with a spate of injuries, which is so common among losing outfits, and it would take some doing on their part to put together a team of eleven fit players for the third Test. Right now, they are at best a bunch of walking wounded.

The final Test in the series, according to newspaper reports, will also be the last time that New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns will be seen wearing the traditional cricketing whites. He has already decided to terminate his Test career at the end of the series, and it is a pity that a great career is coming to an end on a losing note.

I had played with his father, Lance, who was a big-hitter and loved using the long handle and did so to great effect. In the field, he had a rather unconventional bowling style that, at least initially, confused the batsman much more than did the actual delivery.

Chris had everything his father had in his days — minus of course the unconventional bowling style. Had he not been an injury-prone player, Chris would have certainly had his name placed alongside the leading allrounders of all times. Even his present achievements guarantee him that much, but his stock would have been much higher had he not been a victim to a spate of career-threatening injuries.

Chris had come to the scene just when the era of four great allrounders was coming to an end in the late ‘80s and the early ‘90s. Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were all past their prime, and only Kapil Dev lasted beyond the 1992 World Cup. The cricketing world was losing the intensity that had been provided by the very positive rivalry between the four leading allrounders. Wasim Akram was showing signs of filling at least one slot, but otherwise there were no fitting replacements available. Chris Cairns certainly proved to be a worthy soul to take the mantle, and what a thrilling career he has had.

Though the rivalry was not even remotely as dramatic as was the case during the whole of 1980s, Chris did have comparisons done with Wasim and the two South Africans, Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock. It goes to his credit that he was not found wanting even when compared with bowling allrounders like Wasim and Pollock, or with a batting allrounder like Kallis.

Wasim ended up playing over a hundred Tests, while Pollock and Kallis, who started more than half-a-decade behind Chris, have already played close to 80 Tests each. On account of one injury or the other, Chris has played just 61 Tests, and yet has impressive career figures that do not let him pale into significance when parallells are drawn. As I said, one can only imagine what he may have achieved had he not been an injury-prone individual.

It’s sure a matter of some relief for his fans around the world that Chris Cairns would continue to set the One Day scene alight with his firepower, and the fun would continue for some time yet. Most probably he would choose the next World Cup to take his last bow at the world stage. Provided he is fit enough to last that long, it would be just the perfect stage for pulling the curtain down on a wonderful career.

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