A deal for Cairns, not so for New Zealand

By Malcolm Conn

BRISBANE, NOV. 6. New Zealand's pivotal cricketer Chris Cairns is down-playing his country for his future by signing a two-year contract with English county Nottinghamshire which will prevent the damaging allrounder making a total commitment to the Kiwis.

In a remarkable piece of poor timing, the deal, which allows limited time off during the English summer for international commitments, was announced in New Zealand as the tourist prepared to train for the first Test, beginning in Brisbane on Thursday.

Cairns, 31, will miss all or part of a proposed tour to the West Indies next year as he attempts to play all year round in a hectic schedule of international and county games.

New Zealand's most valuable and marketable player is expected to double his annual income to about $400,000 but will still be only half as well paid as the best Australians. Shane Warne, who makes far more outside cricket from endorsements, still earns $ 750,000 from playing alone.

Attempting to spin doctor the signing, Cairns' manager Leanne McGoldrick of Christchurch said: ``Chris believes playing without long lay-offs can be beneficial to him and may help to extend his playing career. ``He is keen to keep his conditioning up all year round as age impacts on his body.''

New Zealand Cricket had a vastly different view just last year when the controlling body paid Cairns more than $150,000 not to play county cricket during the southern winter. It will be interesting to see how his injury-plagued body stands up to the constant wear and tear in the never-ending humdrum of county cricket.

Cairns had a major knee operation in January after two years of problems and conceded on Tuesday that it was still bothering him but he has worked enormously to return ahead of schedule for this series.

He played down the signing, claiming his total focus was on the coming Test and three-match series. ``To be perfectly honest I'm not even thinking about that. I've got one of the biggest games of my career coming up,'' he said after training at the Gabba on Tuesday.

His return to Notts comes six years after his last stint at the county, when he walked out on the 1996 West Indian tour after a dispute with then coach Glenn Turner and was threatened with a ban by New Zealand.

Team manager and former national captain Jeff Crowe dismissed concerns that the coming and going of Cairns will disrupt the team. ``How it impacts on the black caps is yet to be seen,'' he said. ``We don't have tours finalised to the West Indies yet.''

``Obviously he's maximising his opportunities in his career and you've got to acknowledge that. It's been sanctioned by New Zealand Cricket.''

In the past 25 years scores of Australians have abandoned their country for cash. In the late `70s almost the entire national side signed up for World Series Cricket, in 1981 then captain Greg Chappell refused to tour England for business reasons and in the mid `80s two rebel tours to South Africa

gutted the side.

NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said Cairns had a legitimate right to secure his future livelihood even though that meant he would not be available for every international match.

``Chris has probably only two or three more years of international cricket left in him, injury and form permitting,'' Snedden said. ``It is perfectly understandable that he wants to maximise his income during this period and New Zealand Cricket respects his right to do so.''

Live telecast

CHENNAI, NOV. 6. All the three Test matches between New Zealand and Australia will be telecast live on Star Sports. The matches will commence at 5.27 a.m. IST.

The schedule: First Test: November 8 to 12 (Brisbane); Second Test: November 22 to 26 (Hobart); Third Test: November 30 to December 4 (Perth).

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : A disgraceful surrender
Next     : Lady luck smiles on Tamil Nadu