Chris Cairns: Former New Zealand all-rounder off life support and recovering, lawyer confirms

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Chris Cairns played 62 Tests, 215 one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches for New Zealand

Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns is off life support and recovering in hospital after emergency surgery in Sydney for a heart problem, his lawyer has confirmed.

Cairns, 51, had been rushed to an intensive care unit at a Sydney hospital after suffering a "major medical event" in Canberra.

"Chris is off life support," lawyer Aaron Lloyd said in a statement.

"He has been able to communicate with his family from hospital in Sydney."

Considered one of the best all-rounders of his generation, Cairns played 62 Tests, 215 one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches for New Zealand between 1989 and 2006 before becoming a television pundit.