Black Caps selector Glenn Turner pushed himself away from the selection table when the name Christopher Cairns was brought up for discussion before the tour to South Africa.
While Turner had agreed to back any decision made on the star allrounder, he didn't want to be seen to be drivingdiscussion on the subject as he was aware the "baggage" and mutual antipathy that existed between the pair from the 1995-96 seasons could be held against him.
Black Caps coach John Bracewell said that while it was true Turner hadn't driven discussion on the issue, it didn't mean that he didn't agree with the decision given the information presented to the panel.
Former captain Martin Crowe, who unsuccessfully applied for one of the selector positions when Ross Dykes and Brian McKechnie left the panel earlier this year, has propagated the theory that Turner was instrumental in removing Cairns from calculations for the South African side. But a source told the Herald on Sunday that when Cairns' name came up, Turner used the opportunity to leave and use the toilet.
The Black Caps struggled horribly in South Africa, especially in the batting and allrounder stakes where Jacob Oram, Cairns' heir apparent, was ineffective because of injury.
Scott Styris made some comments while in South Africa that appeared to query the decision to leave Chris Cairns behind. Comments that surprised those who feel selection is not his demesne.
It is hard to imagine any current All Black coming out and publicly questioning the decision to leave Marty Holah at home.
Bracewell reiterated his view that Cairns' decision to go from "a 24-7 cricketer to a weekend cricketer" had affected his cricket rhythm and fitness.
"We monitored that through the Zimbabwe tour and there was no improvement. In fact, he had a tour that was plagued with injury and therefore we came tothe logical conclusion that he needed to re-address his cricket."
