Chris Cairns

Christopher Lance Cairns ONZM (born 13 June 1970) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former ODI captain, who played for the New Zealand cricket team as an all-rounder. Cairns finished his Test career with a batting average of 33.53 and a bowling average of 29.40. In 2000, he was named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. He has appeared in ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments on 4 occasions in 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003. He is regarded as one of the greatest allrounders of the game. Cairns was a member of the New Zealand team that won the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy, the first time the country won an ICC trophy, and he had a major role in the final with 102 not out, and scored the winning run.

He is son of former New Zealand cricketer Lance Cairns. He starred in both the One-day and Test New Zealand teams, as well as the Canterbury New Zealand domestic championship team. After his playing career Cairns went on to become a commentator with Sky Sport New Zealand.

Cairns also played for Northland in the Hawke Cup. He had joined the Indian Cricket League, and was the captain of the Chandigarh Lions till its closure in 2008. He later went on to play for Nottinghamshire in the English Twenty20 cup competition.

He was included in the New Zealand national under-19 cricket team for the 1988 Youth Cricket World Cup, which was also eventually the inaugural edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He was later selected to the senior national team. He made his test debut against Australia on 24 November 1989.

Cairns was a destructive batsman who could hit sixes straight down the ground and in his earlier days was an intelligent fast-medium bowler. Since then, persistent injuries have forced him to drop his pace and rely more on his hard-to-read slower ball.

With the bat, Cairns has been the author of some of New Zealand cricket's most memorable innings, including his unbeaten 102 to win the final of the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy for New Zealand against India in Kenya, and his 158 from just 172 balls in a Test against South Africa in 2004. Cairns knocked Shane Warne out of Australia's bowling attack during a 2000 test in Wellington when he launched several sixes out of the Basin Reserve and onto the adjacent street. Cairns formerly held the world record for most sixes in Tests (87, since surpassed by Adam Gilchrist), and for a time held the New Zealand record for fastest century in ODIs (75 balls, currently owned by Corey Anderson with 36 balls).

Cairns was also the part of the victorious New Zealand campaign during the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy where they beat India in the final to lift their first title in major ICC global event. He played his part in the final and helped the Kiwis side, by scoring a match winning knock of 102* and was awarded the player of the final. Finally New Zealand went onto win the final and registered the highest ever chase in an ICC Champions Trophy final (265). He also went onto become the first player to score a century in an ICC Champions Trophy final (was previously called as ICC Knockout Trophy) in a winning cause.^{[citation needed]} He became only the third player to score a century in a Champions Trophy final after Philo Wallace and Sourav Ganguly.

In an ODI against India in 1999, he went onto become the second ever player in ODI history after Gordon Greenidge to score a century in his 100th ODI and became the first batsman to score a century in his 100th ODI in a winning cause. He is currently the only New Zealand player to achieve that milestone.