Chris Cairns, one of the world's leading allrounders, will be playing in the second division of the County Championship next summer after agreeing to rejoin Nottinghamshire. Cairns, 31, has been beset by injury in recent months, but he proved his fitness by taking five wickets in New Zealand's recent warm-up match against Queensland. "I am looking forward to renewing my relationship with Notts," Cairns said. "Since my last year there in 1996 I have always kept an eye on how they're going in the Championship, and I'm really excited about being a part of that next year.

"With Clive Rice in charge, I hope I can help bring back the glorious years of the 1980s. I admire his hard-nosed attitude to the game and look forward to working with him."

Cairns replaces the Australian batsman Greg Blewett, who scored 1292 first-class runs last season. Rice set Cairns's sights high when he said: "Greg performed superbly for us, but I believe Chris, as one of the premier allrounders in world cricket, is capable of matching that total, while adding 35 to 40 wickets on top."

While he may have some way to go before emulating Notts' most famous New Zealander, Richard Hadlee, Cairns has come into his own as an allrounder in recent years. His last appearance on English soil was a triumph. With 5 for 31 and a typically hard-hit 80, he singlehandedly swung the Oval Test of 1999 to secure only New Zealand's second series win in England. And in October 2000 his unbeaten century in the ICC Knockout at Nairobi gave New Zealand their first major international trophy.

Andrew Miller is a staff writer at Wisden.com

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