Cairns brings the curtain down on a fine career
In a series in which so little had gone New Zealand's way, it appeared as though the gods had scripted the fourth day at Trent Bridge to belong to Chris Cairns
The Paper Round by Liam Brickhill
14-Jun-2004
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In a series in which so little had gone New Zealand's way, it appeared as though the gods had scripted the fourth day at Trent Bridge to belong to Chris Cairns. It all seemed to fit - it was his 34th birthday, in his 62nd and last Test, at the ground where he played seven seasons of cricket with Nottinghamshire. But it wasn't to be. Another 34-year old, Graham Thorpe, stole the limelight, but the press still had plenty of praise for Cairns, a man who has done so much for New Zealand cricket since making his debut against Australia 15 years ago.
In The Times, Michael Henderson was all praise for Cairns, highlighting his nine wickets in this match, and his explosive innings at Lord's, but he added that for all his achievements, he did not merit a place on the list of all-time greats. "Cairns belongs to the ranks of the very good, which lies one significant rung below the great. Plenty of players have worn a similar badge, and they went quietly into retirement, without expectation of three late cheers," he wrote. "It was jolly decent of Michael Vaughan to recognise that a fellow pro was walking into the sunset, but he should not have bothered with the red carpet.
"Cricketers good enough to make Test hundreds and take five wickets in an innings are rare birds, and now this one has flown," he continued. "A run of injuries prevented him from making the most of his talent but he still enjoyed a fine career and he brought down the curtain with one of his best bowling performances."
Simon Briggs in the Daily Telegraph pointed out that Cairns was not always the easiest man to get along with, adding that not everyone was so gushing about his achievements in the Test arena. "For all his charisma and derring-do, Cairns is the kind of cricketer some people never warm to. Like Chris Lewis, his successor as Nottinghamshire's allrounder, he has tended to attract accusations of shiftlessness and general unfulfilment.. In the moments before the start of this match, his Test epitaph, listeners to the [BBC's] Today programme could still have heard Cairns described as an underachiever by Mike Gatting - a man who averaged two points more with the bat but took 215 fewer Test wickets."
In the The Guardian, Steve James conversely called Cairns "a fine cricketer, respected and liked. That he had earlier managed only one run off 13 balls is immaterial," he said. "He still received two standing ovations. Even for Cairns, a substantial score would have been a surprise. The files of cricketing history are littered with batsmen whose valedictory innings have been brief."
Angus Fraser, who was on the receiving end of Cairns' mighty hitting over the years, wrote in The Independent that Cairns made up for his failure with the bat with one of his best bowling performances. "He has been at his best with the ball," said Fraser. "At Headingley, on a pitch offering far more assistance than this, he was a disappointment. Indeed, if he had bowled as well as this a week ago, New Zealand would have been competing for a series rather than a consolation win here.
"Whilst England celebrated it was hard not have sympathy for Cairns," he added. "Since making his Test debut in 1989, the allrounder has been one of the most exciting players in cricket and his efforts in this match deserved more."