When Chris Cairns dismissed Aravinda de Silva in Colombo on Wednesday, he wrote both his and his father's names into cricket history. They became the first father-son combination to claim 100 test wickets each.

Lance Cairns believes his son is just warming to his job, and he expects that his haul of 130 wickets will be surpassed within the next 10 tests.

It took Lance Cairns 43 tests to get 130 wickets. Chris has taken 33 tests to get 100. The last 40 have come in 10 tests in eight months.

``By the time he gets to 43 tests I expect him to be half-way to the next 100. The only way I'll stop him from getting to 130 is to get on the selection panel,'' said Cairns.

He felt his son had been impatient in the past. ``It takes time to achieve these milestones. Now that he has reached it he has to look at the next 100 and I'm sure that will come a lot quicker.

``I expect him to get another 100 and he's very keen to achieve it too. That's the thing that will keep him going. He knows 100 wickets is a milestone, but it's the better players who get past 200 wickets.''

Cairns said it would be nice to be remembered for being the first father-son combination to take 100 test wickets.

Cairns has not spoken to his son, but sent him a fax yesterday with some ``fatherly'' encouragement.

``I spoke to him before he left for Sri Lanka and he knew exactly how many wickets he needed to reach 100. The milestone has come quite quickly, but that's what will happen.

``It's a matter of getting consistency in your performance. Very few players burst on to the scene and get wickets willy-nilly. Even Richard Hadlee took six or seven seasons before he started taking wickets regularly.

``It's a confidence thing too, but I'm sure Christopher will be away now.''

Lance Cairns said the change in team management had been beneficial for his son.

``He obviously had problems with the previous management, but he's happy with this management and it's going to help his game.''