Ordinarily, Chris Cairns would be fondly remembered as one of New Zealand's finest all-rounders. However, these are not ordinary times, and the cricketing world is full of fingers pointing and accusations of match-fixing, spot-betting and other dodgy dealings. Two years ago, Cairns found himself the victim of a libellous Tweet from none other than Lalit Modi, and now the ex-Black Cap star is suing the IPL ex-Commissioner for defamation in the High Court.
Modi had implicated Cairns in a fixing scandal while playing in the ICL two years earlier, and the latter denies being kicked out of the competition over the alleged coruption. Three Indian Chandigarh team-mates have given video evidence in support of Modi, so who do we believe? The former IPL supremo is hardly squeaky clean but in the end it comes down to the word of a zillionaire and a few others against Cairns and Andrew Hall. The whole affair stinks, and it seems unlikely that anyone can prove innocence in such a case, even if Cairns really was set up. In these cases, it's hard enough to prove guilt.
Chris Cairns scored more than 8000 Test and ODI runs, and captured more than 400 wickets for New Zealand in a 15-year career. Injury prevented him becoming even more prolific but his retirement at only 33 from ODIs just a year from the 2007 World Cup, was unexpected, coming just days after a game against Sri Lanka and T20I versus the West Indies.
His career spanned the eras of Wright/Crowe and Fleming/Vettori and he was as effective a player as any of those New Zealand heroes. As a fast-medium bowler, his Test aggregate of 218 wickets at under 30 is as good as anyone other than Sir Richard Hadlee. Add to that his batting average of 33, and you have a mighty fine Test cricketer. Yet his speciality was brisk late-order batting and his ODI strike rate of 84 is testament to that. Having announced his retirement from Tests in 2004, he bowed out at Trent Bridge - so familiar from his successful days at Nottinghamshire - with nine wickets, albeit in a losing cause. His international record was arguably better in England than even back in New Zealand, although he also enjoyed personal ODI success in Australia. 1999-2000 saw him at his peak with both bat and ball, including a 72 and '10-for' (including 7-27 in the second innings) against Lara's Windies at Hamilton. What a Twenty20 player he would have been! Ironically it was his participation in the ill-fated T20 ICL that ultimately ended his career and got him into this current legal mess.
I remember his dad, Lance, being a swashbuckling all-rounder in the '70s/'80s but Chris was a far better player. He will need all his battling attitude to succeed in the High Court this week against an opponent as difficult as any he faced on the pitch. And Modi isn't even going to give evidence. Guilty or not, Chris Cairns' name stands to be besmirched by the whole business, and that's not good for cricket.
