NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Cricket / Black Caps

Cricket: Cairns fear factor left behind

Dylan Cleaver
By Dylan Cleaver
Sports Editor at Large·
29 Oct, 2005 08:46 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

There is a time and place for being "cute". With a bit of luck John Bracewell, Sir Richard Hadlee, Glenn Turner and Dion Nash have learned that around the selection table is not one of those places; just prior to a tour of South Africa is not one of those times.

The Black Caps, normally a fine one-day unit, have looked strangely impotent so far in the Republic losing two from two - matches they should not have lost.

It's a tough place to play; even tougher when you leave your most dangerous player at home.

Many of their early woes can be put down to the absence of Chris Cairns. Without him, they have lost the fear factor.

The selectors were not completely unjustified in their decision to drop Cairns, just completely unwise. By his own admission he was a liability in Zimbabwe - but then again so was Hamish Marshall.

The selectors wanted to send him a message. Great. Send him a message. He has a cellphone so send him a text, it'll save on stamps.

"CC. We r not :-) with yr form & think u shd play more crkt or u mite not make the WC in 07. Yrs, John, Rich, Dion & Glenn :-(," the message could have read.

If they suspected, outside of electro-shock therapy, dropping Cairns was the only way to get the message through, then why didn't they do it before the Zimbabwe tour, a tour when his absence would not hurt the team.

Cairns is apparently training the house down in Christchurch but that can only be of cold comfort to Stephen Fleming, whom one suspects would prefer him slightly closer to Port Elizabeth than the Port Hills.

Dropping him without adequate cover is just dumb: chopping off your allrounder to spite your team.

Sure, if Jacob Oram was in anything like the form he was before he injured his back then go for it, but his ability to bowl effectively is under scrutiny. If Scott Styris was anything like the form he was in, well, quite some time ago, then maybe. But in a team that is looking increasingly thin in the match-winning department, it reeks of kidology.

Cairns vintage '05 is just as much about implied threat as it is results, which have been, in fairness to him, unflattering at best.

But opposition still fear him. They manipulate their bowlers to try and ensure soft targets are not bowling when he comes to the crease. He still has a few useful overs in him each innings (without the burdens of test cricket he should have 10 overs in him and, if not, this is where it's right for selectors to question his fitness).

There is something self-defeating in this whole issue.

Cairns wants to go to the World Cup and curtailed his test and first-class career to prolong his one-day career. Then he gets caught, figuratively speaking, with his pants down and no doubt realises, as Bracewell has suspected for some time and has previously flagged, that less in this case is certainly not more.

So the selectors' answer is to give him even less competitive cricket.

If you are looking at this through neutral eyes, and it must be pointed out that Chris Cairns has a sometime association with this newspaper as a columnist, you must surely reach one of two conclusions: the selectors think Christchurch club cricket and early season first-class cricket played invariably on dodgy wickets is a more appropriate build-up to the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy than playing in South Africa, or the selectors are not really serious about the chances of a Chris Cairns comeback.

If it is the former, it is misguided; if it is the latter it is lunacy.

The nature of cricket, being such an individualistic sport within the framework of a team, dictates that it is easier to win games by picking your best players. In sports like rugby and football you can get away with picking lesser individuals for the betterment of the collective far more easily than you can in cricket.

In simple terms: if you were picking the best players to take to South Africa, a place where New Zealand has had limited success in recent years, would you include Cairns?

Of course you would.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Black Caps

Black Caps

Devon Conway recalled for T20 tri-series after injury strikes Black Caps

New Zealand

Former Black Caps coach claims players were 'egotistical buggers'

Black Caps

‘World-class performer’: Ajaz Patel thrown Black Caps lifeline by new coach


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Black Caps

Devon Conway recalled for T20 tri-series after injury strikes Black Caps
Black Caps

Devon Conway recalled for T20 tri-series after injury strikes Black Caps

The Black Caps' T20 tri-series against South Africa and Zimbabwe kicks off next week.

13 Jul 09:18 AM
Former Black Caps coach claims players were 'egotistical buggers'
New Zealand

Former Black Caps coach claims players were 'egotistical buggers'

12 Jul 02:00 AM
‘World-class performer’: Ajaz Patel thrown Black Caps lifeline by new coach
Black Caps

‘World-class performer’: Ajaz Patel thrown Black Caps lifeline by new coach

11 Jul 06:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP