‘ The greatest gift you can give’
Cairns pays tribute to a mate
Chris Cairns has paid tribute to his “extremely loyal” friend and former New Zealand cricket team- mate Dion Nash who helped him out when he needed him the most.
In Canvas magazine, in today’s Weekend Herald, Nash has spoken of why he helped his former team- mate when Cairns hit his lowest ebb.
Cairns yesterday told the Weekend Herald that Nash and wife Bernice Mene opened their house to him and his family during the build- up to the 2015 trial in Britain when he was found not guilty of perjury in relation to match- fixing allegations.
“He and Bernie always made us welcome,” Cairns said. “That’s probably the greatest gift you could give — just opening the front door and letting someone in.
“The great thing with him was that he didn’t take a side; he just opened his house to a mate, and listened.”
Cairns said that would never be forgotten as he, wife Mel and their children rebuild their lives in Canberra. The former all- rounder i s seeking employment and hoped a few things would “come to fruition soon”.
“When I get back into my life, hopefully I can repay the friendship some day.
“During that time there were two sides to the argument and Dion would listen to this side and that side.
“He was someone who was a passionate New Zealand cricketer, but it was upsetting for him that t wo factions, if you like, were at war.”
Nash told Canvas he and Cairns were friends, competitors and rivals when they played for New Zealand.
“It wasn’t always a nice relationship — sometimes it was downright aggressive. But at the same time, when you move on from the sport, you remember those five or six players that held that group together and felt we really achieved something.
“So when he got in all of this trouble, I found it really hard to see a guy I did respect and had so much time for and did call a friend so far outside the tent of cricket and on his own. Of course the truth of it is it was tiring and taxing on everyone — especially, for Chris [ I think he] is still very much in the wilderness and suffering from all the fallout. There’s two sides to the story and Chris has been cleared in court — you have to take it at that.”
Cairns rates Nash as the most competitive cricketer he played with in an international career spanning more than 16 years.
“There’s not one cricketer I would categorise above Dion in that capacity whether that was warm- ups, walking down the street or on the field of play. There were no blurred lines regarding how competitive he was.
“People looked at him and saw the white line fever, but deep inside he had a smart cricket brain. I think he was exceptionally perceptive.
“He had this remarkable ability to come at problems from angles we hadn’t considered. He would often throw gems in at team meetings and you would think ‘ gee that’s a really good point’.”
Cairns regretted that Nash only played in 19 of his 62 tests and 51 of his 215 one- day internationals.
“He’s a deep thinker who doesn’t suffer fools but wants to get to the core of something. He and I never played enough together. When we were bowling together we had a healthy competitiveness for what we were trying to achieve.
“We had a period for two to three years where we had a really good side and Dion was at the centre of that. Our shared endeavour was winning games for New Zealand.
“We weren’t the easiest of characters [ to get along with] compared to others in the team, but we were always inquisitive.”
Nash works as managing director of Triumph & Disaster, the cosmetics brand he founded in 2011.
Cairns respects his friend’s business acumen as much as his sporting talent.
“He has created something from nothing, survived and it’s flourished into a global enterprise. There’s no more determined man than Dion. He’s got good advisers around him and he keeps an open mind.
“He remained loyal, as a friend who doesn’t judge.”