Cricket: Cairns promises early firepower

By RICHARD BOOCK

Chris Cairns is set to burst through the saloon-doors a shade earlier than expected this season.

The star New Zealand cricketer has been promoted to No 3 for tomorrow's one-day international against Pakistan in Singapore, and the shift is likely to be a long-term initiative.

Coach David Trist yesterday confirmed Cairns' career move, saying management had agreed to play the 30-year-old right-hander at No 3 after he made an approach during the warm-up games in Queensland.

Trist, who also confirmed that Daniel Vettori would operate as a makeshift opener in the absence of the injured Chris Nevin, said it made sense to involve Cairns in as much of the innings as possible.

"He has expressed his desire to bat at No 3 - he has been champing at the bit actually - and we certainly took his request seriously," said Trist. "When you consider that [Nathan] Astle and Cairns are our two best strikers of the ball, it seems reasonable to give them the best possible opportunity to influence the game."

In 126 ODIs, Cairns has batted at No 3 on six occasions, where he has managed a better return (29.00) than his overall batting record (27.80).

He batted at No 5 against the West Indies and Australia last summer, and struck a quickfire century in the same position against a Queensland selection this week.

However, a possible complication of the shift is that New Zealand captain and specialist batsman Stephen Fleming would be shunted down to No 4, with World Cup star Roger Twose slipping to No 5.

Fleming, who came under intense pressure to open the batting last summer, has a reputation for being one-dimensional through the middle stages of the innings, and a demotion to No 4 could exacerbate that.

Trist said he was aware of the "fish-hooks" but believed the re-shuffle could sharpen NZ's top-order batting, and might have flow-on benefits down the order. "It's a good debate and it's healthy people are looking at all the angles.

"To our mind, Cairns is ready to go in at No 3, and Flem is a very good gatherer of runs - he could be very useful through the middle stages.

"We have to remember that Chris is 30 years old, he has played a lot of cricket, and needs fresh challenges to stay interested.

"He was accused of being an under-achiever in the test arena and made people change their views, and I think he would like to make a similar point in the shorter game."

Twose, meanwhile, is still causing a measure of concern in the New Zealand camp after straining his back during a brief wicket-keeping adventure in Queensland.

Trist said he was cautiously optimistic, but Twose had made a slower recovery than expected.

Indications are that New Zealand's attack on Sunday will include left-arm pacemen Geoff Allott and Shayne O'Connor, with Cairns, Harris, Vettori, Astle and Scott Styris giving Fleming a raft of options.

Off-spinner Paul Wiseman and rookie paceman Daryl Tuffey seem the most likely to miss the cut.

New Zealand (from):

Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Daniel Vettori, Chris Cairns, Roger Twose, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Chris Harris, Scott Styris, Shayne O'Connor, Geoff Allott, Paul Wiseman, Daryl Tuffey.

Pakistan: Waqar Younis (capt), Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Rashid Latif, Atiq-uz-Zaman, Kabir Khan, Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Younis Khan, Hasan Raza, Arshad Khan.