Cairns cleared to go ahead with SA tour

ICC KnockOut 2000 champions New Zealand were given a further lift as they settled into the South African leg of their tour in Johannesburg on Tuesday with the news that star all-rounder Chris Cairns does not require immediate surgery on his injured right knee and will be able to stay with the touring party.

Cairns, man of the match during Sunday's final against India for an unbeaten, match-winning century and a telling, unbroken 10-over bowling spell, had his knee scanned by a Johannesburg specialist on Tuesday morning.

"It's all very favourable from our perspective," said New Zealand manager Geoff Crowe. "He'll be staying with us on tour and the knee and any pain he suffers will be managed by our medical team."

Although it was too early to tell for certain, Crowe suggested, New Zealand would be hoping to field Cairns in the opening one-day international meeting with South Africa in Potchefstroom on Friday.

At the same time, it is certain that Cairns will be rested for New Zealand's tour opener on Wednesday, a one-day run out against a Gauteng Invitation XI in Soweto, a black township south west of Johannesburg.

Crowe said that Cairns would be monitored on a match-by-match basis. It is clear that the tourists hope to get as much as possible out of an all-rounder of genuine international quality.

The New Zealand team were introduced to the South African media on Tuesday with captain Stephen Fleming clearly anxious to make amends for the ill-fated 1994/95 tour of South Africa. Fleming, Adam Parore and Chris Harris are the only survivors of that team which lost a three-Test series after winning the first Test in Johannesburg and failed to qualify for the final of a quadrangular one-day tournament.

The New Zealand team was torn apart shortly after returning home when details of a marijuana-smoking episode in Paarl emerged.

"I think it had to do with the culture we were dealing with," said Fleming, referring to New Zealand's previous visit to South Africa. "I think there was a lot of dead wood in that side and some of the things that occurred in that environment weren't conducive to what New Zealand cricket is about. A lot of the damage done in those two years has taken a long time to repair but we think the culture we have now will never that let happen again."