Sideline Sid - Sports blogger Sideline Sid is a local sport fanatic. Not only is he a classic rugby bloke but he has views, opinions and knowledge on all sports played in the Bay of Plenty.

One of the joys, of following and watching sport in the Western Bay on a weekly basis, is that you never know who you might bump into at a game.

Last weekend I was at the Fergus Hickey Rosebowl match at the Bay Cricket Oval at Blake Park, when I was introduced to one of the true heroes of New Zealand Cricket.

BL (Lance) Cairns became the folk hero of New Zealand cricket during the 1970s and ‘80s. Who can forget the sixes he blasted over the boundary at the Melbourne Cricket Ground when the New Zealand side were in a hopeless position?

Lance was at the Bay Oval as part of the support team for the Poverty Bay side that met Bay of Plenty in the Northern Districts cricket competition match played on Saturday and Sunday.

While very few sports fans haven't heard of Lance – not so many know that he played in the Bay of Plenty for a considerable period in the 1980s.

It was a real privilege to have 20 minutes of a one-on-one conversation with Lance last weekend. In order not to squander the precious time, I concentrated my questions on his time playing club cricket for Te Puke.

During the 1980s Te Puke was probably the strongest club cricket side in the country. New Zealand batsman Andy Roberts and BL Cairns arrived in Te Puke about that time.

Along with the likes of NZ rep Bruce Blair and John Derrick, who played for (and later coached) Glamorgan, and plenty of homegrown talent, Te Puke ruled the roost in Baywide club cricket.

In the later years of Lance's time in Te Puke, his then young son Christopher would come to stay and play for the club. Lance told me the story of a game against Albion in local Western Bay cricket where the Cairns father and son, took all 10 wickets as the Tauranga side was rolled for less than 50 runs.

Lance played just 14 games for Bay of Plenty during his time in Te Puke due to New Zealand and ND commitments. In his first season (1981/82) for the Bay, the side had a star-studded line-up. New Zealand skipper Geoff Howarth, Andy Roberts, Chris Kuggeleijn and All Black legend Grant Fox were in the team that lost just one game (by first innings points) to Hamilton.

A measure of his talent was provided in the 1983/84 season when he demolished Midlands with his bowling. In the first innings he took seven wickets, then added three in Midlands second turn at bat to grab a rare 10 wickets in the match

A gauge of Lance's skill with the ball is provided in the 14 games that he played for the Bay. He took 57 wickets that placed him 12th on the all time list of Bay of Plenty bowling tallies.

Seeya at the Game