England v New Zealand - Stars of the Past

With England comfortably ahead in the victory stakes over the oast four decades, it is no surprise that the stats favour English players right down the order. Nevertheless the Black Caps have fielded some excellent batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders during that period. Here is my all-star XI from the past forty years of England-New Zealand Test series to prove it.

At the top, I'll have John Wright and Mark Richardson. The former aggregated 711 runs in 11 matches, although his average was nothing special. Fellow opener Richardon toured only in 2004 yet scored more than half as many runs as Wright, averaging more than 61, well above his career average of 45-odd. Ironically his best performance, with 93 and 101, came in a losing fight at Lord's.

Stephen Fleming opened in that game but was better known as a middle-order batsman and highly successful captain, particularly in ODIs. Nevertheless he makes my team on the back of 644 runs in ten Tests. Alongside him stands one of the country's finest ever batsmen, Martin Crowe. In England his average was, for him, a meagre 40.23. However, he plundered three centuries and 845 runs spread over 13 matches. Geoff Howarth just about qualified as an all-rounder but barely took a wicket in the five-day format. Against England on these shores, he accumulated a handy 485 runs at 40.41 in the 1970s.

Brendan McCullum is the only man in the current squad to make my Eleven, combining wicket-keeping duties with his hard-hitting batsmanship. In the past decade, he amassed 412 runs in six games and should add to that tally later this month. New Zealand's best all-rounder of this or any other era must be Chris Cairns, who nudges out his dad, Lance, from my fantasy team. Cairns junior scored 343 runs while chipping in with 31 wickets at only 25 apiece. He played a major role in the few victories his nation achieved in recent times.

Of course, arguably NZ's greatest ever player was Sir Richard Hadlee. At one time the world's highest Test wicket-taker, he enjoyed great success in England, both with Nottinghamshire and his country. In 14 Tests, he captured no fewer than 70 wickets, by a mile more than any other player on either side, while contributing more than 500 runs. No centuries but four valuable late-order fifties. The three other bowlers could all bat a bit, too. Spinners Daniel Vettori and John Bracewell each provided more than 200 runs and 20 wickets in these fixtures whie Dion Nash's 34 wickets came at a lower average than even Hadlee's. Like many Black Cap stars before him, Nash retired from international cricket early, which was a shame.

In summary, I reckon this would have made a pretty nifty line-up, not only in England but also on home soil: Wright, Richardson, Fleming (*), M Crowe, Howarth, McCullum (+), C Cairns, R Hadlee, Vettori, Bracewell, Nash.

England v New Zealand - the story so far

In the forty-odd years I've been following cricket, England have played only 29 Tests at home to New Zealand and sadly 2013 will add only two more to the total. In this period, the visitors have managed a mere four victories yet they was sufficient to win two out of the nine series contested since the start of 1973.

In that year, a Geoff Boycott century and eight wickets from Geoff Arnold clinched the three-Test rubber with an innings triumph at Headingley while five years later England enjoyed a 3-0 whitewash. The First Test contained some very slow scoring, typified by NZ's second innings in which spin duo Geoff Miller and Phil Edmonds wheeled away for 68 overs, conceding just 55 runs! 21 year-old David Gower struck the game's only hundred en route to a 7-wicket success, then Boycott's batting and Ian Botham's bowling wrapped up an innings defeat. Botham (again) and Willis flattened Mark Burgess's side for 67 in the Lord's finale to complete the summer rout.

In the 1980s, New Zealand were a very different proposition, featuring the likes of Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe, John Wright, Lance Cairns and Doug Bracewell's uncle John. Thirty years ago, England won three out of four, but in Leeds, ten wickets for Cairns and solid first innings batting from Wright, Edgar and Hadlee out-performed another Gower century to run up a five-wicket consolation prize. Three years later, England failed to win any of the three Tests played. Mike Gatting's side managed two draws but lost the series at Trent Bridge where it was Hadlee's turn to claim a ten-for, alongside a fine 68.

The 1990 series spanned the announcement of Richard Hadlee's knighthood and I recall seeing the newly-named Sir Richard amble onto the pitch at Chelmsford in the Essex tour match. Surely never has a twelfth man being cheered so heartily by an opposing crowd! In the Tests, things didn't go his way although in the Edgbaston decider, his 5-53 set up the chance of a 345-run chase to take the series 1-0. However, Devon Malcolm took 5-46 and victory went instead to Graham Gooch's team.

Gooch may have been in his 40s by 1994 and the captaincy had transferred to Mike Atherton, but the Essex man's 210 was the decisive factor in an innings victory at Trent Bridge, which proved to be the only decisive result of that three-match series. However, in 1999 New Zealand achieved the rare feat of beating England not once but twice in an away rubber. England edged the First Test thanks to that memorable 99 not out by nightwatchman Alex Tudor. However, a new Cairns, Chris having replaced dad Lance in the side, turned the series on its head. In the second game, he claimed eight wickets en route to a nine-wicket win then in the fourth his 5-31 and rapid-fire 80 laid the foundation for a decisive 83-run victory, and embarrasmment for Nasser Hussain and co. Five years on, and Fleming was still captain and in top form with the bat. Nevertheless that wasn't enough to prevent a rapidly-improving England dominating the series 3-0. Trescothick, Strauss and Harmison shone for the home side that year.

The last time New Zealand came to these shores was in 2008, by which time Daniel Vettori and Michael Vaughan were the opposing leaders. The opener was a weather-affected draw, remembered best for some typically rumbustuous striking by Brendan McCullum and Jacob Oram. Ross Taylor thumped a magnificent 154 at Old Trafford and Vettori's 5-66 put his side in a great position after day two. However, Monty Panesar delivered a devastating 6-37 to reverse fortunes and 106 from Andrew Strauss helped finish things off with a day to spare. England had really hit their stride by Trent Bridge, where the series finale was hopelessly one-sided. Jimmy Anderson (7-43) in the first innings and Ryan Sidebottom (6-67) in the second gave the big-hitters no opportunity to show their talents and the winning margin was an innings and nine runs.

What about the forthcoming contests? Well, I simply can't see New Zealand troubling England, especially with Tim Southee struggling with injury. Vettori, of course, remains out of the picture, too, so the home team ought to win comfortably. I'll focus on some of the best individual players to have participated in England-NZ Test matches in the next blog.

Cairns blasts Modi for Six - and lots more besides

Two weeks ago, I commented upon the libel battle wherein one of New Zealand's greatest players, Chris Cairns, was suing ex-IPL chairman Lalit Modi for a defamatory 'tweet', accusing the former all-rounder of match-fixing when involved in the ICL. . Today, the London High Court found in Cairns' favour.

It had been a brave move by Cairns. These cases don't come cheap. However, he clearly knew he was innocent of such claims, despite the string of former Chandighar team-mates lined up by Modi to give evidence against him. Judge David Bean rubbished the players' evidence, and also that of the former ICL anti-corruption officer, Howard Beer, whom he described as "partisan to the point of being unprofessional". So much for being anti-corruption! There's probably a lot more to reveal about what happened in the ICL, but that's for future court cases or media revelations!

While Cairns can happily hold his head up high, Modi should be ashamed to show his face in public ever again. To accuse a player of match-fixing without anything to back it up is tantamount to ruining a player's reputation. Being awarded £90,000 damages and £1.5 million costs, while welcome financially, counts as nothing compared with the damage done by aspersions cast upon his integrity. A player's considerable achievements can become invisible in the fog of corruption claims or, as Cairns said, reducing them "to dust". I don't know the ins and outs of what Modi did at the IPL but there are too many zillionaire businessmen tainting cricket with dodgy dealings. Fortunately crime doesn't always pay in the long run; ask the odious Allan Stanford, convicted of stealing a mere $8 billion! Thank goodness the ECB and others washed their hands of him before his T20 vanity project became too big, and its sponsor's association too embarrassing.

I do feel reassured that Chris Cairns has been vindicated but it is disturbing that other players can be persuaded to offer what the judge called inconsistent and unreliable evidence. There is clearly a lot more yet to emerge from those murky days in the ICL but that's for another day in court or media publication! I hope this action, like the Salman Butt affair, has demonstrated that bullies shouldn't prosper, just as I fervently wish that all genuine cheats get caught and banned for life.

Man of the Moment: Chris Cairns

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.