Cricket: Vettori urges Cairns to go for milestone

Chris Cairns

CHRISTCHURCH - Daniel Vettori has urged Chris Cairns to seize the moment and complete at least one half of his prized double in today's one-day international against Sri Lanka.

The veteran New Zealand all-rounder needs 90 more runs and one wicket to become just the third player to reach the 5000 run-200 wicket double, and stand-in captain Vettori said there could be no more fitting a stage for the milestone than his home ground at Jade Stadium.

Only Sri Lankan star Sanath Jayasuriya and South African Jacques Kallis have reached such lofty heights in the shorter game, while other luminaries such as Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham have fallen short.

Cairns is also a member of one of test cricket's most prestigious statistical categories: those all-rounders who have taken 200 wickets and scored 3000 runs.

Vettori yesterday paid tribute to the 36-year-old Cantabrian, describing him as one of the best all-rounders in history, and someone who'd been a strong influence on the New Zealand one-day scene for the past 15 years.

"When you consider the stats he's compiled, you've got to throw him in alongside some of the greatest names that have played the shorter game.

"He's been doing it for so long and so consistently, it's clear he is one of the great one-day players of all time."

The milestone looms for Cairns only a few months after he was sensationally axed from the squad to tour South Africa on the grounds of fitness and form, and then quickly re-selected for last month's Chappell-Hadlee one-dayers against Australia.

Cairns' batting appears as strong as ever, but his bowling has lacked an element of rhythm since his return. He's proved one of his side's most expensive bowlers in the last three games - two against Australia and last weekend's contest against Sri Lanka.

He's taken just seven wickets at 50.28 in his last 10 one-day outings, something Vettori said was an aberration rather than a trend, and something he was sure Cairns would rectify in the near future.

"He's one of those guys who works exceptionally hard, even at his age," he quipped.

"He wants to bounce back as fast as he can, particularly given that the other seamers are bowling so well; he wants to be part of that collective.

"The way he worked at training today, the way he reviewed all his preparation, I know that he's going to come back strongly, and I know that taking his 200th wicket in front of his home crowd will be pretty special for him."

Vettori was surprised to learn that New Zealand won only six of 19 ODIs through the previous calendar year, but believed the team had emerged from that difficult time and would continue to grow as a combination through 2006.

New Zealand's only wins were against Zimbabwe (2), India (2), Australia and Sri Lanka.

"It doesn't make great reading," Vettori said of the statistic.

"We've always been a confidence unit and I suppose at times we haven't had that full-strength feel about us.

"Now we're almost there and starting to blood some new guys, and it's an exciting time.

"At the end of the rainbow there's the World Cup and we want to build towards that. But we realise that every game is important, not only to us but also to the New Zealand public.

New Zealand have named an unchanged 12 for today's match, while Sri Lanka will wait until this morning before announcing their team.

New Zealand:
Daniel Vettori (c), Jamie How, Lou Vincent, Peter Fulton, Scott Styris, Hamish Marshall, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, Nathan Astle, James Franklin.

Sri Lanka (from):
Marvan Atapattu (c), Chaminda Vaas, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Farveez Maharoof, Muttiah Muralitharan, Avishka Gunawardene, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara, Jehan Mubarak, Russel Arnold, Ruchira Perera, Dilhara Fernando.