An attacking opening batsman with a characteristic high backlift and helmet without a visor, Matthew Horne struggled with inconsistency throughout his Test career, often shunted in and out of the side in the quest to find a suitable opener. A proven performer in domestic cricket, Horne's defining moment came in the 1995-96 Shell Trophy final, where his blistering 190 steered Auckland to the title. A switch to Otago yielded more runs, and a Test cap against England the next summer. He had a reasonably good start to his Test career, which included a maiden hundred against Australia at Hobart in 1997-98, but his century at Lord's in 1999 sparked New Zealand's revival, which helped them clinch a famous away-series win. However, he failed to score a half-century in the next nine Tests, and his appearances after that were sporadic.He showed shades of his attacking instincts in his 50 ODIs but failed to convert any of his five half-centuries to three figures. He retired from first-class cricket in May 2006, while playing league cricket in Scotland.

Kanishkaa Balachandran (May 2006)