A polished right-hand batsman and sound wicketkeeper, Tony Blain suffered from being an almost permanent understudy, first to Ian Smith and then Adam Parore. His opportunities were limited. He made his Test debut against England at The Oval in 1986 - Smith was injured - and scored a battling 37 but spilt a swirling skyer from Ian Botham. He next played twice against India in 1988-89, and had a final eight-match run in the side in 1992 with home and away matches against Australia and a tour to Pakistan. He also played 38 ODIs in two spells, the first between March 1986 and December 1988 and the second between March 1993 and March 1994. Initially at Central Districts, Blain was again blocked by Smith so he switched to Canterbury where he helped them win the Shell Trophy in 1983-84 . But he was again unable to command a place in the side and so returned to Central Districts, initially as a specialist batsman who stood in for Smith as and when he was on New Zealand duty, and then as first-choice keeper when Smith moved to Auckland at the end of the 1986-87 season. After retiring, Blain did some coaching as well as commentary work.
Martin Williamson