Little dreamer grows into hero's shoes

Photo recall: Which future Black Cap, bowled over by this exciting airport encounter, would one day be bowling others over in the international arena? Photo / NZ Herald

Photo recall: Which future Black Cap, bowled over by this exciting airport encounter, would one day be bowling others over in the international arena?



A curly mop wasn't the only thing Lance Cairns had in common with his young fan.

The tyke with the big grin is Kyle Mills, aged 3. Eighteen years later Mills would take his place in the New Zealand cricket team, just like his hero Cairns.

Mills' mother, Carole, pictured left, had taken the budding pace bowler along to Auckland airport on February 14, 1983, to welcome the national side home from playing in Australia.

Just like the return of the Black Caps following their tenacious but unsuccessful bid for the World Cup in Sri Lanka this week, Cairns and his team returned defeated but with heads held high.

The day before Cairns had smashed six sixes with his bat, nicknamed Excalibur, in the second final of a one-day international against Australia in Melbourne.

"Lance Cairns was a big six hitter," said Mills. "He and Geoff Howarth were my heroes."

Mills was wielding his own bat at the airport - a wooden souvenir that his father had made. On it, Mills collected the signatures of the New Zealand and the English sides in the early 1980s. He still has the treasured bat, stored in his wardrobe with the rest of his cricketing memorabilia.

"I'll probably pass it on to my son," says Mills, although his 15-month-old has yet to show any signs of cricket fanaticism like his dad.

Mills said he was not a product of a cricket-mad family. His father had never even played the sport. His mother took him along to the airport because he loved backyard cricket so much.

"I was a cricket tragic back then," he said. "I always loved the game."

Today Mills is the one dishing out autographs for fans. "It's funny how the cycle goes. I always make an effort to sign, especially for kids."

Mills had to limp home earlier than the rest of the team with a torn thigh muscle that took him out of the competition prematurely.

Doctors say he will be fit to play in three weeks.

Mills said there was confidence within the team when he left and he was disappointed they were not able to pull off an upset against Sri Lanka.

"It's New Zealand's sixth semifinal appearance [at the World Cup] without advancing past that phase, so that's pretty frustrating."

frances.morton@hos.co.nz