He played four first-class matches for Otago between the 1864–65 and 1869–70 seasons,[1] all against Canterbury.
He had played for an Otago side of 22 players in February 1864 against a touring English side organised by George Parr but had not played in the inaugural first-class match in New Zealand earlier in the year.
His younger brother, Alexander Cairns, was also born in Scotland but educated at Otago Boys' High School in Dunedin.
Cairns died in 1888 at Dunedin asylum.
This biographical article related to a New Zealand cricket person born in the 1840s is a stub.