Cricket: Departure leaves us with a sword in the stone

Come outside and take a look at this, said the Don to his teammates as Stan McCabe let rip against the English in 1938. "You might never see the likes of it again."

It might be just the heat, but it's hard not to feel similarly about Chris Cairns.

The last vestige of New Zealand's golden era through the 1980s, Cairns' retirement from international cricket is set to rob the team of the one ingredient they can least afford right now - pure and unadulterated star-class.

Say what you like about his temperament and injury record, his notorious battle with former coach Glenn Turner and his legacy of not quite fulfilling his extraordinary potential; at his best he was a genius.

Flashback to his match-winning effort at the Oval in 1999, when he first sacked England's batting and then rescued his team with a spine-tingling 80 off 92 balls, setting up a rare series win.

Remember the magnificence of his spell at Lord's in the same series, and particularly the slower ball that made a monkey of a ducking Chris Read. Think of his landmark century against the Aussies at Wellington in 2000, and of possibly the most freakish shot of his career, the straight-drive for six over square leg off Shane Warne.

But if you want a signature Cairns memory, look back no further than the Champions Trophy final in Nairobi, 2000, when he led the New Zealand one-day side to their first international tournament title, sealing the win with an utterly riveting 102 not out.

Yes, he was sometimes difficult to deal with in his younger days, and certainly no fan of Turner's "my way or the highway" philosophy, but there should never be any doubt about the man's master class.

Anyone who can be statistically compared with Sir Garfield Sobers, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Sir Richard Hadlee and Shaun Pollock, not to mention Sanath Jayasuriya and Jacques Kallis, clearly has been able to play a bit.

It's a fact of life that he's polarised public feeling over the years, and that there'll always be malcontents who bemoan the fact that he wasn't able to make more of his considerable gifts.

These are the glass half-empty types who will be muttering good riddance as they tighten their anoraks; the ones who always bridle when the word "great" is mentioned near his name, and who still cannot abide his ever-changing coiffure.

But to the vast majority of Kiwi fans, Cairns was more than simply a talent-laden all-rounder, he was a reason for hope during a time when New Zealand cricket was low, and when the stars as we knew it (the Hadlees, Crowes and Smiths) had recently left the game.

If Cairns was playing there was always a reason for optimism. Folk who knew their cricket recognised the presence of a superstar when they saw one; children would thrill to his appearance at the tunnel, opponents would dread it.

Years ago it was his father Lance who delighted followers with his wrong-footed in-swingers and flashing Excalibur blade, and who provided New Zealand with perhaps our first true cricketing folk hero.

Now it is Chris' turn to take a bow, having enhanced the family legend with one of the most exhilarating careers in New Zealand cricket history, a straight-out Hall of Fame certainty if ever there was one.

We can only hope that sons Thomas, 3 1/2, and Bram, 2, catch the bug too.