Famous Cricketers No 79 - Richard Hadlee

c G.J.Cosier b M.H.N.Walker 15 293-8 13 4 41 1 I.C.Davis c W.K.Lees 154-4d 57. NEW ZEALAND v AUSTRALIA, Auckland, February 25, 26, 27, March 1 (Australia won by ten wickets) c R.B.McCosker b D.K.Lillee 44 229 28 2 147 2 R.W.Marsh lbw 377 1 K.J.O’Keeffe c B.E.Congdon b G.S.Chappell 81 175 2 0 11 0 28-0 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Test matches 2 4 0 143 81 35.75 - 1 2 Shell Series 5 7 1 185 53 30.83 - 1 2 Season 7 11 1 328 81 32.80 - 2 4 Career 57 74 12 1352 87 21.80 - 5 24 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Test matches 72 7 354 6 3-155 59.00 - - Shell Series 109.5 13 367 12 3-21 30.58 - - Season (8b) 181.5 20 721 18 3-21 40.05 - - Career (6b) 482.1 90 } 5551 203 7-23 27.34 5 1 (8b) 1021.4 119 1977/78 At 12.30pm on the 15th of February Hadlee dismissed Bob Willis and New Zealand had defeated England in a Test match for the first time. It was a great moment for New Zealand cricket and for Hadlee who returned figures of 6 for 26, giving him 10 for 100 in the match. When New Zealand were dismissed for a miserable 123 in their second innings all seemed lost. However, Hadlee and Richard Collinge (3-35) responded magnificently to the challenge and England, wanting only 137 to win, were routed for just 64. Hadlee became only the second New Zealand bowler to take ten wickets in a Test match against England, and his innings and match figures surpassed the performance of John Cowie who returned figures of 6 for 67 and 10 for 140 at Old Trafford in 1937. In the remaining two Tests Hadlee found life much more difficult, sending down 80 overs and taking only five wickets for 271 runs. Although his bowling in the Wellington Test was obviously the highlight of the season, Hadlee also had a successful time with Canterbury. In his first two games in the Shell Trophy, against Auckland and Central Districts, Hadlee took thirteen wickets, returning match figures of 8 for 59 and scoring a useful 42 in the home fixture with Auckland, Canterbury winning this game by 55 runs. Due to a recurrence of a groin injury, Hadlee was played in Canterbury’s next game against Northern Districts as a batsman and justified this decision with scores of 77, with one six and ten fours, and 24. Hadlee was able to bowl once more when Canterbury played the England touring team. Boycott’s men did not have things all their own way as Richard (5-50) and Dayle (2-32) troubled the tourists (173) on the first day. Richard (56) also batted aggressively on the last day to earn Canterbury a draw. The season ended with Hadlee (5-28) capturing another five-wicket bag in the Shell Trophy Final, but Auckland held out for a draw and thus won the Trophy. With Test and Provincial success, the season was a rewarding one for Hadlee for although Canterbury failed to take the Shell Trophy they won both the Knockout Tournament and the Shell Cup in their Centennial year. As usual, the Hadlee brothers contributed much to this success, and in all first-class games for the province during the season Richard took 27 wickets at 18.11 and Dayle 31 wickets at 20.09, both also making useful runs; Barry, with a century against Central Districts, scored 485 runs but at a modest average of 26.94. However, the star for Canterbury was Stephen Boock, the left-arm spinner, who claimed a record 56 wickets for the province at only 15.66 runs each. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 58. Canterbury v Auckland, Christchurch, December 26, 27, 28 (Canterbury won by 55 runs) b G.B.Troup 3 212 9 1 22 4 A.E.W.Parsons hit wkt 91 G.E.Vivian c W.L.Eddington 21