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Chris Cairns unplugged
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New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns dispels some misperceptions about himself and the way he played the game
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Photo: Murali Kumar K.
SAY CHEESE New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns
Chris Cairns has got a bad rap from the media. Inability to convert his cricketing talent into results, lacking in patience, hasty retirement from Test cricket, an attitude problem. In Chennai for a brief stopover, MetroPlus decided to seek his responses to these `charges' and get his side of the story. We found that the former New Zealand all-rounder demolished the charges, with the same ease as he dispatched hapless bowlers to all corners of the boundary.
Charge one: His mouth curls in disagreement when I read the first charge - inability to translate talent into results. But isn't this just another way of saying that he could have scored more runs and collected more wickets than he did? That he was actually better than he performed? "Not true," he counters. Chris says he is happy he had the courage to play cricket in the free-flowing way he did, one that was most interesting to himself and most beneficial to his team. He recognises he could have played differently, a bit more sedately, and scored more runs. But if that had happened, there wouldn't have been a Chris Cairns, would there? A man who electrified audiences around the world. "You know, Indians like my aggressive batting style," he says.
Charge two: a lack of patience. This one was a result of what was perceived as his inability to stay at the crease for long periods. Cairns counters this by drawing attention to his performance outside the cricket field. He runs many businesses and is successful in most of them. "An impatient man does not succeed in business."
Charge three: he gave up too early. I thought there was some truth in this charge until Cairns rips it apart. His somewhat sardonic smile seems to say: so, you call retiring from Test cricket in your early-thirties equal to giving up without a fight. "I was born with knees that are prone to injuries. To play cricket for long as I did, I had to keep myself from too much cricket," says Cairns. "I hope to play in the World Cup 2007." A desire to spend more time with his sons Tom (3) and Bram (one-and-a-half years) may have also been responsible for his decision to quit Test cricket. "When you have children, you look at the world differently," says the master-blaster. "There will be a Chris Cairn Foundation for underprivileged children, soon."
For four hours before the `Miss Beautiful Smile' event organised by Close Up to mark the launch of its new `Lemon Mint' toothpaste, Cairns gives interview after interview, patiently answering the same questions again and again. One scribe even makes him wait for an hour and when Cairns meets the unpunctual writer, the smile is bright and genuine and the handshake firm and friendly.
I decide that it is not even worthwhile reading charge number four — that he has an attitude problem. Cairns seems to have disproved that by the impeccable manner he conducted himself.
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Smile please!
PHOTO: K.V. SRINIVASAN
WINNING SMILE Chris with Anshu Jaiswal.
Close Up recently organised a `Miss Beautiful Smile' event at Park Sheraton to mark the launch of its new Lemon Mint toothpaste. Kiwi cricketer Chris Cairns placed a fluorescent green sash around Anshu Jaiswal, declaring her Miss Beautiful Smile - Chennai.
The event was as brief as a smile, for the selection had taken place earlier.
Chris Cairns will choose the `Miss Beautiful Smile' in three other cities - Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
To enter their `smiles' in the contest, consumers are required to buy Close Up Lemon Mint.
With the purchase comes an invite to a party where Chris will choose the most ravishing smile.
PRINCE FREDERICK
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