Famous Cricketers No 79 - Richard Hadlee

Walter Arnold Hadlee Born on the 4th of June 1915 at Lincoln in the South Island, Walter Hadlee was one of New Zealand’s finest captains and an admirable right-hand batsman. He played in 11 Tests for New Zealand and was captain in eight of them. At Old Trafford in 1937, batting at number 6, he made 93 against England before “... he slipped in forcing a ball off his legs and trod on his wicket” ( Wisden ). In 1946/47, against Wally Hammond’s side, he scored 116 at Christchurch, his only Test century, and with Bert Sutcliffe (58) put on 133 for the first wicket. Hadlee toured England twice, firstly in 1937 when he made 1,225 runs at 29.87, and then in 1949 as captain, this time scoring 1,439 runs at 35.97 and appearing in all but four of the 32 first-class fixtures. However, on this latter tour he put the needs of others first and as captain excelled, as New Zealand held England to a draw in all four Tests and lost only one game on the tour. His highest score in first-class cricket was 198 for Otago against Bill Brown’s Australian side at Dunedin in 1945/46. Staying for 374 minutes, he hit one six and 18 fours against an attack that included Ray Lindwall, Bill O’Reilly, Ian Johnson and Bruce Dooland. Altogether, Hadlee played in 117 first-class games, making his debut during the 1933/34 season and playing his last match in 1951/52. During this time he scored 7,523 runs at 40.44 and made 18 centuries, 10 of these being scored for Canterbury in his 44 appearances for the South Island side. Barry George Hadlee Born at Christchurch on the 14th of December 1941, Barry Hadlee was a competent right-hand opening batsman who, in his earlier years, also played in the middle order. In all he appeared in 84 first-class games, 82 of them for Canterbury, and scored 4,539 runs at 31.52 including six centuries. His career spanned 20 seasons, from 1961/62 to 1980/81, and his highest score was 163* against Otago at Christchurch in 1980/81. He also played in two one-day internationals for New Zealand, one of these games being in the 1975 World Cup when he joined Dayle and Richard in the side. Dayle Robert Hadlee Born on the 6th of January 1948 at Christchurch, Dayle Hadlee was a right-arm medium-pace bowler and also a plucky lower order right-hand batsman. He endured much misfortune during his first-class career with severe leg and back injuries and he also lost part of a toe in an accident with a lawn mower. A courageous cricketer, he was forced to change from being a strike bowler to a stock bowler for most of his career. He played in 26 Tests for New Zealand and captured 71 wickets at 33.65 with a best bowling performance of 4 for 30 against India at Hyderabad in 1969/70. It was on this tour of India and Pakistan that he captured 21 wickets at 15.95 each in the six Tests and as the main strike bowler gave the opposition plenty of uneasy moments. At Christchurch in 1973/74, when New Zealand beat Australia in a Test match for the first time, he took five wickets in the game. He will also be remembered for a remarkable catch off his own bowling on his Test debut at Lord’s in 1969 to dismiss Alan Knott when “... he leapt high to his left to pull down, one-handed, a return catch … which only a superbly fit athlete could have reached” ( Wisden ). In all first-class cricket, from his debut in 1966/67 to his final game in 1983/84, he made 111 appearances and captured 351 wickets at 25.22 each. His best performance was 7 for 55 for Canterbury against Wellington at the Basin Reserve in 1977/78. He also scored 2,113 runs at 18.69 and made one century, 109* for his province against the Sri Lankans at Christchurch in 1982/83. For Canterbury he played in 49 first-class games and took 195 wickets at 20.09 each. 138