Cricket: Cairns standout in his field

By RICHARD BOOCK

Chris Cairns didn't simply gain admission to one of cricket's most elite clubs this week, he virtually knocked the door off its hinges and grabbed the second-best seat in the room.

The only player in the history of the game to bring up the coveted 3000-run 200-wicket double in the same match, Cairns' efforts were all the more meritorious given his terrible injury record, and the weakness of the New Zealand team in the mid-1990s.

Having missed 57 tests and played 58 during a 15-year career, the 33-year-old seemed close to the end of the line last winter after having more problems with his recalcitrant body, and playing only one test in a year.

It might have seemed like an eternity for Cairns to pick up his 200th wicket, but the reality is that in reaching the double in just 58 tests, the New Zealand allrounder out-performed every other member of the category apart from Ian Botham.

Botham, who incidentally is the allrounder whom Cairns relates to most, completed the feat in 55 tests, but the remaining four had to wait until deep into their careers before the weaker side of their game came through.

Gary Sobers, remembered as one of the greatest batsmen to have played the game, scored his 3000th run in just his 33rd test but then had to wait until his 80th outing before effecting his 200th dismissal.

Kapil Dev and Imran Khan streaked to the 200th wicket mark in 41 and 50 matches, but had to work much harder to post their 3000th run, eventually completing the task in their 73rd and 75th tests, respectively.

Richard Hadlee's gap was also pronounced, the great New Zealand fast bowler needing 44 tests to collect his 200th wicket, and 83 to post his 3000th run, the milestone arriving in the one-off test against Australia in 1990.

The point is a pertinent one, and it lends weight to the theory that Cairns and Botham were the most genuine all-rounders of the great sextet, players who were able to bat in the top six as well as shoulder a lead role with the ball.

There might be support to include Imran in this category, but the fact that he needed 75 tests to bring up his 3000th runs, and eked out 25 not outs compared with Cairns' five and Botham's six, suggests his batting influence was not as strong.

Botham's greatest performance almost certainly came against Australia at Leeds in 1981, when he took a six-wicket bag in the first innings, and then struck an unbeaten 149 as England followed on, setting the scene for Bob Willis' famous eight for 43.

It was just the second time in the history of test cricket that a team following on had won.

For all that, Cairns' 158 and three second-innings wickets in the second test against South Africa was also of historic importance, in that it helped end one of the New Zealand cricket team's longest droughts.

But Cairns can at least boast a mini-Botham act of his own; his brilliant, man-of-the-match all-round performance at the Oval in 1999.

After taking five first-innings wickets, he strolled to the middle at 39 for six, blasted 80 runs and gave New Zealand a match-winning lead.

How much longer Cairns will last is anyone's guess, something he more or less confirmed after being asked about his long-term prospects this week.

"I'm available for the next game," he smiled.

"That's the way it is these days."

Hopefully, for the sake of the New Zealand tour to England, he'll be available for the next one, too.