Champions Trophy Hero: He was a key player in the century-winning victory over India in the 2000 Champions Trophy (ICC Knockout Trophy) final. He was a New Zealand player who won the hearts of Indian cricket fans as a fearless cricketer and all-rounder. But after that, he descended into the underworld and made a career as a laborer and cleaner. He was none other than Chris Cains.
Like a Hollywood hero
He had a beautiful appearance like a Hollywood hero, a ringed hair.. He became the second Kiwi cricketer to reach that level in the game after all-rounder Ian Botham. But circumstances are not always the same.. We often hear that ships become carts.. and carts become ships. This happened in Chris Cains’ life too.
Accustomed to luxuries
Chris Cains had a good amount of property. But before he could retire from the game, he fell into financial ruin due to his own mistakes. Cairns also did diamond trading in those days. But he was addicted to luxury and could not save money. Finally, debts and losses completely submerged his life. In this process, he also fell into a state of dependence on someone else. At one stage, he was admitted to the hospital with a heart attack. He suffered a lot due to lack of money for treatment. Finally, Cairns became a laborer to earn his living. He also worked as a truck driver. He even cleaned buses.
420 Wickets.. 240 Sixes..
Cain’s career included 62 Tests, 215 ODIs, and 2 T20s. He scored 8273 runs. He took 420 wickets. He took 81 catches. He hit 240 sixes in Tests and ODIs combined. He was ranked 5th in Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000.
Making History
In an ODI against India in 1999, he became the second player in ODI history (after Gordon Greenidge) to score a century in his 100th ODI, as well as the first batsman to do so in a winning effort. He is now the only New Zealand player to have reached that milestone.
Cairns’ career-best Test bowling performance was 7/27 against the West Indies in 1999, and he is New Zealand’s sixth highest wicket taker in Tests, trailing only Richard Hadlee, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Chris Martin.
He is also one of just eight cricketers who have taken 200 wickets and scored 3000 runs. Cairns finished third fastest among these seven players (58 tests), after only Ian Botham and Kapil Dev (50 tests). Cairns came near to doubling their ODI wickets and runs total. Cairns concluded his ODI career with 4950 runs, barely 50 short. The Cairns Test batting average at number seven (44.02) is the fifth best average for that position in history.
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Unfitting Farewell
Cairns retired from New Zealand’s Test team in 2004. Cairns was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2005 for his contributions to cricket.
Cairns held a news conference on January 22, 2006, to announce his retirement from ODIs. His last appearance for New Zealand was a T20 encounter against the West Indies on February 16, 2006. He was also a member of the ICC World XI that participated in the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal matches.
On February 15, 2006, the New Zealand Herald linked his retirement to those of Michael Jordan and Bjorn Borg. Cairns also hinted at a possible comeback, saying, “I don’t think I could ever be tempted back”.
In Cairns’ final game, he bowled four overs for 24 runs and no wickets, while also scoring a nine-ball duck before being bowled by Chris Gayle. He also missed the stumps on both efforts during the bowl-off. According to ESPNcricinfo, his final international was “an unfitting farewell” and “he deserved better”. He was selected captain of the World XI for the 2009 ICL World Series T20 competition, which was to be held in Hyderabad. However, the intended tournament was canceled due to payment problems.
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