One of the ironies of the former Zimbabwe captain’s case is that the fixers used his care for the game against him
June 2015, and I’m in the headmaster’s study at Christchurch boys’ high school, listening to him tick off the famous New Zealand sportsmen who went there. Dan Carter, Brodie Retallick, Andrew Mehrtens, Owen Franks, Aaron Mauger, Steve Hansen, Graham Henry. He was running out of fingers, and he hadn’t even started on the cricketers – Richard Hadlee, Chris Martin, Tom Latham, Corey Anderson. “And the other one, of course, one of the most famous,” he paused, “only, we don’t talk about him too much any more around here.” He paused again. Eventually his colleague cut in: “Chris Cairns.”
The way I remember it, there was a lot left unsaid in that long, awkward silence. Anger, scorn, even a little embarrassment. He was a proud man, running a proud school.
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