Nash - telling Cairns was the toughest part
By Peter Bidwell
From STUFF, May 3, 2002

Dion Nash's toughest task in deciding to retire from all cricket was telling New Zealand teammate and friend Chris Cairns he would not be with him for the World Cup in South Africa early next year.

"We've been pretty close, and we've competed against each other a lot to the benefit of the New Zealand team," Nash said in announcing his retirement yesterday from all cricket.

"I told the other guys before they went away (to Sharjah) that I was thinking of giving it away but I'd not told Chris (who is recovering from knee surgery).

"He was the best player I played with for New Zealand, and there was an admiration for each other's ability.

"Some of my best memories of playing for the Black Caps were bowling in tandem with Chris."

Nash, 30, said he no longer had the "deep-seated motivation" to recover from his latest injury, a hip strain, after accumulating a bulging file of serious conditions that threatened to end his career much earlier.

Injury reduced him to one test and four one-day matches last summer, all in Australia, and appearing in the first test against Australia in Brisbane in November fulfilled his last ambition in the game.

"I'd always wanted to play Australia in a test in Australia, and having finally done it sapped my desire to continue," he said.

His only regret was after being "a world class player at my best" not being able to "flatter" his career statistics as many other players manage to do in their latter years.

He finished with 93 wickets from 32 tests, seven away from being just the 11th New Zealander to achieve the 100 milestone. However, Nash will not be remembered for his statistics but for his competitiveness, which sometimes was over the top and last summer resulted in a 13-day three-match ban.

There were occasions when Nash's language did him no favours. However, one could never question his commitment to the Black Caps' or his desire to successfully compete against the best. It resulted in him captaining the Black Caps in New Zealand against India and South Africa in 1999.

When he took 11 wickets and scored 56 runs against England in the second test at Lord's in 1994, the first player to score a 50 and take 10 wickets in a test at the ground, he looked on the brink of a glittering career. He joined the Middlesex county but a persistent back injury, which kept him out in 1996, looked destined to end his career.

It was typical that the last of Nash's 81 one-dayers, the first world series final against South Africa in Melbourne in February, should end with the hip injury. He triggered it when he fell awkwardly when batting, and he walked off, unable to bowl any more, after one over.

Nash and his fiancee, retired New Zealand netball captain Bernice Mene are planning to marry in February. He has enrolled for a one-year post-graduate course at Melbourne University, and he will continue his involvement with cricket as a leading figure in the New Zealand players' association.

New Zealand Cricket's chief executive Martin Snedden described Nash as the "ultimate competitor", and said it was "a great shame that injury prevented him from making a fuller contribution".

[Articles]