CHRISTOPHER LANCE CAIRNS (NEW ZEALAND)

Introduction:

Christopher Lance Cairns, (born 13 June 1970) is a former New Zealand cricketer, He was all rounder player who played for the New Zealand international cricket team, the Black Caps, and is son of former New Zealand cricketer Lance Cairns. He starred in both the One day and Test New Zealand teams, as well as the Canterbury New Zealand domestic championship team. Christopher Cairns also captained the Black Caps on seven occasions, usually when regular captain Stephen Fleming was unavailable. Christopher Cairns finished his Test career with a batting averages of 33.53 and a bowling average of 29.40. In 2000, he was named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. After his playing career Christopher Cairns went on to become a commentator with Sky Sport New Zealand.

Career:

Christopher Cairns was a destructive batsman who could hit sixes straight down the ground and in his earlier days was an intelligent fast medium bowler. Since then, persistent injuries have forced him to drop his pace and rely more on his hard to read slower ball. With the bat, Christopher Cairns has been the author of some of New Zealand cricket's most memorable innings, including his unbeaten 102 to win the final of the 2000 ICC Knock Out Trophy for New Zealand against India in Kenya, and his 158 from just 172 balls in a Test against South Africa in 2004. Christopher Cairns knocked Shane Warne out of Australia's bowling attack during a 2000 test in Wellington when he launched several sixes out of the Basin Reserve and onto the adjacent street. Christopher Cairns formerly held the world record for most sixes in Tests ''87, since surpassed by Adam Gilchrist'', and for a time held the New Zealand record for fastest century in ODIs ''75 balls, currently owned by Corey Anderson with 36 balls''. Christopher Cairns' career best performance in Tests was 7/27 against the West Indies in 1999, and he is New Zealand's fourth highest wicket taker in Tests, after Richard Hadlee, Daniel Vettori and Chris Martin. He is also one of only eight players to have reached the all rounder's double of 200 wickets and 3000 runs. Out of these seven players, Christopher Cairns reached the double 

2nd fastest ''58 Test'' behind Ian Botham. In ODIs, Christopher Cairns came close to another double of 200 wickets and 5000 runs. Christopher Cairns finished his ODI career on 4950 runs, just 50 short. Cairns Test batting average at number seven ''44.02'' is the 5th best average for that position of all time. The New Zealand Herald journalist, Richard Boock said about Cairns: "It's not a scientific measure of course, but if Christopher Cairns' body had held together long enough for him to have played 100 Tests, his figures extrapolate out to something like 5334 runs and 351 wickets very similar to those of Botham." He went on to say "He was, and should be remembered as, one of the game's best all rounders''. also played in the World Cricket T sunami Appeal ODI, at the MCG. Cairns played for the ICC World XI and scored 69 off 47 balls before being stumped by Kumar Sangakkara off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan. During his innings, He put a 91 run partnership on with captain, Ricky Ponting. With the ball, Christopher Cairns picked up 1-37 off 6 overs. Injuries plagued Christopher Cairns throughout his career. There remains some debate over his statistics and how they reflected his ability. In Christopher Cairns career he played 62 Test and missed a further 55 due to injury. Sidharth Monga writing in 2009 that Christopher Cairns' career returns "were a poor justification of his prodigious talent''. Christopher Cairns also played for Northland in the Hawke Cup.

Retirement:

Christopher Cairns retired from the New Zealand Test team in 2004. On 22 January 2006, Christopher Cairns announced his retirement from ODIs in a press conference. A Twenty 20 match against the West Indies on 16 February 2006 was his last game representing New Zealand. He was also part of the ICC World XI that played in the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal matches. The New Zealand Herald compared his retirement to those of Michael Jordanand Bjorn Borg on 15 February 2006. Christopher Cairns also left the door open for a comeback, but said "I don't think I could ever be tempted back". In Christopher Cairns' final game, he bowled four overs for 24 and no wicket and scored a nine ball duck, before being bowled by Chris Gayle. He also missed the stumps in both attempts during the bowl off. Cricinfo describe his final international as "an unfitting farewell" and that 'he deserved better'. He has joined the Indian Cricket League, and was the captain of the Chandigarh Lions till 2008. He is currently playing for Nottinghamshire in the English Twenty 20 cup competition. His sister Louise was killed at Rolleston in an August 19 93 train accident, in September 2008 he completed a 1,001 km '622 mi' walk promoting rail safety awareness. Christopher Cairns is married to Melanie Croser, an Australian who works for the sports marketing group Octagon in Sydney. It is his third marriage. Christopher Cairns lives in Canberra and will start playing for the local club North Canberra Gungahlin Eagles in the 2011/12 season. In his first he scored 141 off 66 balls, including 13 sixes. During this knock his last 90 runs came off 27 balls.

Match fixing:

Christopher Cairns was the subject of allegations in an ICC investigation into match fixing In December 2013. He is alleged to have attempted to manipulate games in India when he was captain of the Chandigarh Lions in the short lived Indian Cricket League. Christopher Cairns has rejected these claims. New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent, an admitted match fixer, has said that Christopher Cairns has approached him about fixing matches. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has also told the Anti Corruption and Security Unit of the International Cricket Council, that Christopher Cairns made a match fixing approach to him. Christopher Cairns insists that he has never fixed a match, saying Vincent wanted to "mitigate his sins by blaming others" and taking issue with McCullum having waited three years before approaching the ICC. In March 2012 Christopher Cairns successfully sued former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi for libel, after Modi posted on Twitter in 2010 that Christopher Cairns had been involved in match fixing during 2008. He won costs and damages. On 12 September 2014, the Metropolitan Police announced that they would charge Christopher Cairns with perjury stemming from the Modi libel trial. His trial is likely to be in October 2015.

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