Allrounder Cairns eyes IPL

Former New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns is eyeing an international cricket comeback at the age of 39 by registering for the next player auction in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).

He is one of 97 internationals chasing a contract, with the final auction list to be announced on Tuesday, the IPL said on its website.

Cairns, who once held the world record for the most sixes in Tests (87) and is one of only seven players to have reached the double of 200 wickets and 3,000 runs, was a Wisden cricketer of the year in 2000.

However, his career was repeatedly disrupted by injury and he last played Test cricket in 2004 before ending his international career two years later following a Twenty20 match against the West Indies.

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, who retired last month from Test cricket because of injury, has also put his name down to join the IPL.

Both players were previously aligned with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League (ICL). Bond, 34, who was barred from the New Zealand team for two years until he renounced his ICL ties, returned for the first Test against Pakistan last month before announcing he would in future focus on the short form of the game.

AFP