5 Kiwi cricketers who had forgettable debuts but went on to have high-flying careers

#3 Chris Cairns

Tall, well-built and muscular, Chris Cairns was one of the best all-rounders to have played the game of cricket. Son of former Kiwi all-rounder Lance Cairns, Chris was known for smashing towering sixes. His tally of 3,320 runs at 33.33 and 218 wickets at 29.40 from 62 Tests makes him one of only eight players to have claimed the double of 3000 runs and 200 wickets in Test history.

At one stage of his career, he also held the Test record for hitting the maximum number of sixes (87) before losing it to Adam Gilchrist.

The burly Kiwi’s career, though, had started on a disappointing note. Playing against trans-Tasman rivals Australia on a bouncy pitch of Perth in 1989, Cairns recorded scores of 1 and 28 in his debut Test, besides sending down 12 wicketless overs for 60 runs.

However, as he gained experience, his game flourished too. In the Wellington Test of 2000, he took Aussie spin wizard Shane Warne to cleaners smashing him out of the Basin Reserve Oval a number of times. But for recurring injuries that marred his career and forced him to retire at the age of 34 in 2004, Cairns would have gone on to play at least 100 Tests.