Hello and welcome back to my blog
It is well known and often repeated in cricket discussions that Sir Richard Hadlee was our best cricketer but the repetitive use of this statement has perhaps dulled our understanding of the extent to which it is true and even unworthy of his legacy. Before Hadlee joined the team, New Zealand had won less than ten tests and triumphed in just ONE test series (in Pakistan of all places) and on occasion the team challenged the other test nations but parallels with current day Bangladesh are not false (funnily enough our series victory against Pakistan was achieved in Bangladesh right before the civil war). This was after 40 years of cricket! In particular our ability to get 20 wickets in a match was always lacking. Here I will run through the timeline of NZ test series from the 1970s and 1980s and focus on Hadlee's impact in the hopes that his true greatness may be restored
February 1973, PAK in NZ (1-0 loss)
- Richard Hadlee debuted as the 123rd player for his country and took 2-84, 0-28 and hit 46 (batting at 8)
- His returns did not improve as the side lost 2-0 in England and 2-0 in Australia and a habit of being very expensive didn't ensure his selection in the team.
1973/74, AUS in NZ (1-1 drawn series)
- The second test in this tour is better remembered for Glenn Turner making twin hundreds as we beat Australia for the first time in a test, but Hadlee was crucial with figures of 3-59 and 4-71. He finished the series with 10 wickets @ 22 and established himself as a talented fast bowler - expensive but took wickets.
- England toured the following season and won 1-0 but Hadlee did not play (although his future bowling partner Ewen Chatfield debuted in that series)
1975/76, IND in NZ (1-1 drawn series)
- In the third test Hadlee bowled 4th and wrecked the Indian batting card while taking New Zealand's best ever figures of 4-35 and 7-23 (11-58). Incredible given he was destroyed in the second test and we were fighting to save the series, but this victory became the blueprint for the next 15 years - 10 wickets for Hadlee and a crucial victory for his team
1976/77, NZ in PAK (2-0 loss)
- Making 214 runs @ 53 and also taking 10 wickets, Hadlee built on his reputation as his teams young star
- He took a further 13 wickets @ 33 in the fast-bowling graveyards of India right afterward
- Australia toured later in the year and won 1-0.
1977/78, ENG in NZ (1-1 drawn series)
- Although the team was gaining respect against other teams, the record against England was still 0 WINS. This finally changed when Hadlee destroyed England in the second innings with 6-26 (10-100 match figures) in the first test
- He took 15 wickets in the series and another 13 @ 20.76 in the tour of England that followed (although this was lost 3-0)
1978/79, PAK in NZ (1-0 loss)
- This was the last home series that New Zealand lost until 1991/92. Hadlee continued to improve in both facets of his game with 115 runs and 18 wickets (including his 100th in his 25th match)
1979/80, WI in NZ (1-0 victory)
- New Zealand announced to the world that they would now be competitive with their first home series victory and also the rise of Richard Hadlee the world-class all-rounder
- NZ won the first test on the back of Hadlee's fine performance: 51 runs and then figures of 5-34 & 6-68 (becoming our leading wicket-taker). He made his first century (103) in the second test and took a another 5 wickets in the third
- We were the last team to beat the West Indies for 15 years and Hadlee was the star: 178 runs @ 44 and 19 wickets @ 19 (becoming New Zealand's leading wicket taker and our first player to pass 1000 runs & 100 wickets)
- The following summer he took 19 wickets @ 19 in Australia and although the series was lost (2-0) he was Man-of-the-Series. India was beaten 1-0 at home soon after and it was around this time that Hadlee began to employ the use of a shortened run he had learnt in the Sunday League in England. It was heavily criticised at the time but undoubtedly enabled him to remain playing for as long as he did
1981/82, AUS in NZ (1-1 drawn series)
- New Zealand won the second test where Hadlee took 5-63 in the second innings
- Sri Lanka played their first tour of NZ the following summer and were thrashed 2-0 and we had our first instance of consecutive test victories
1983, NZ in ENG (3-1 loss)
- Despite the scoreline, Hadlee was supreme on this tour: 301 runs @ 50 & 21 wickets @ 26.6 - most wickets for a series and best all-round effort for a kiwi. The solitary win was our first IN England and Hadlee played his part with 75 runs (although surprisingly NO wickets)
- England made a return tour and New Zealand beat them in a series for the first time (1-0) and in the crucial victory, Hadlee made 99 then took 3-16 and 5-28
- Soon afterward the team toured Sri Lanka for the first time and won 2-0, Hadlee beat his own record by taking 23 wickets in this series (10-102 in the third match)
In 1984/85 the team lost 2-0 in Pakistan but Hadlee did not play
1984/85, PAK in NZ (2-0 win)
- The home team won the second and third tests and Hadlee took 6 and 8 wickets in them respectively (including his 250th)
- New Zealand then toured the West Indies and were beaten 2-0 over four tests - quite respectable given the thrashings being dealt to every other team (5-0, 5-0 and 4-0 to England during the same period!). Hadlee passed the 2000 run 250 wickets mark (3rd player to do so)
1985/86, NZ in AUS (2-1 win) and AUS in NZ (1-0 win)
- Possibly our best summer of cricket (and certainly the best by anyone against Australia
- Definitely Hadlee's best as he helped himself to 9-52 & 6-71 in Brisbane, using every trick in the fast bowling manual on a helpful pitch, he then added a rapid 54 in an innings victory. 7 wickets in the second test and 11-155 in Perth took him to 33 for the series (second best ever)
- The Australian team came to NZ in the new year and Hadlee took another 16 wickets. New Zealand is still the only team to beat Australia in TWO series in the same season
- During the winter the team continued their form with the first series victory in England. They were undefeated in the 15 first-class games that were played the tests were won 1-0 and Hadlee was the star in that victory by scoring 68 and taking 10-140
- to cap the year off the West Indies were held to a 1-1 draw back in New Zealand. Hadlee took 9 wickets in the final test which was won
- A single test was played in Sri Lanka in 1987 and Hadlee recorded his second test century: 151* (New Zealand's 100th test century as it happens)
1987/88, NZ in AUS (1-0 loss)
- An improving Australia side managed to hold on and draw the third test despite 10-176 from Hadlee
- England toured New Zealand with Richard Hadlee needing just ONE wicket to become the leading wicket-taker in the world but he was injured and missed most of the series (which was drawn 0-0)
1988/89, NZ in IND (2-1 loss)
- Arun Lal became Hadlee's 374th victim on the first morning of the first test in India as he took 5-65 and then 10-88 to win the second test but the decider was lost. He remained the leading wicket-taker until Kapil Dev went 3 better in 1994
- Pakistan toured later that season but Hadlee had little success (series drawn 0-0)
- A single match was famously drawn in Australia during the summer but Hadlee did not play
1989/90, IND in NZ (1-0 win)
- He became the first man to take 400 test wickets in the first test
- Australia played one test at the end of the season which New Zealand won after Hadlee took 5-39 in the first innings - his last effort at home
1990, NZ in ENG (1-0 loss)
- He made an aggressive 86 in the second test and finished at Nottinghamshire (his second home) by taking 8 wickets including two in his final over (one off his last ball)
Without him, the team won just 5 tests between 1990 and 1997 and only one series (against Zimbabwe). New Zealand's undefeated run of series at home ended in 1992 when England won 2-0
Looking at the history of New Zealand cricket, there have only been two truly successful periods for us: 1980-1990 and 1999-2004. Stephen Fleming may have got the best out of a talented team in the second of these but it is quite clear that even with Crowe, Wright and Chatfield - without Hadlee the 1980s would not have come close to being as successful. With him at one end you suddenly didn't need 400 runs to defend (an accusation that will surely plague Daniel vettori's record in future years). With that change to the equation, you can have the team collapse for 250 and still win thanks to Hadlee - thus the team was undefeated at home for 12 years
His complete control of swing, seam, line and length may never be equalled and the fitness, both mental and physical, to keep on doing it for as long as he did with nothing but the Ilford Second XI bowling in support (thank you Mike Gatting) is surely the model of professionalism
And just because one must, here are some statistical points:
- Of the 22 ten-wicket-matches by New Zealander's, 9 of them are Hadlee's
- 36 of the five-wicket-hauls are his
- Took 130 wickets @ 20 against Australia
- One of only two New Zealand born cricketers to take 1000+ first class wickets
As a final word I will offer hope to our young cricketer's and a word of caution to our coaches and selectors. After 8 matches Hadlee averaged 15 with the bat and 41 with the ball - how many players have been dropped since because they had better stats? Right now we have two very talented cricketers in the form of Tim Southee and Kane Williamson and I hope that they will not be judged by what Hadlee and Crowe did at the end of their careers but how unpolished they were at the start
Finally, if you have read this far you are a true Black Cap fan and deserve a treat:
Our greatest test match in highlights
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
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