Famous Cricketers No 79 - Richard Hadlee

only one Trophy game and had to settle for second from bottom in the Shell Trophy Table. In a low-scoring game against Auckland, Hadlee took seven wickets in the match without the help of the field as Canterbury recorded a narrow victory despite a second innings century from Dipak Patel (102). There were seven more wickets for Hadlee in the next game against Northern Districts, but this time the match ended in a draw. Hadlee quickly reduced the home side to 13 for 3 but Grant McKenzie (115) and Barry Cooper (105), the former playing Hadlee especially well, stopped the rot. At Alexandra Hadlee returned impressive match figures of 9 for 79 but he could not prevent Otago winning by four wickets. The Dunedin based side, wanting 251 to win, seemed to be coasting to victory at 227 for 3, but Hadlee made them work hard for their success when he took three wickets in seven balls while only two runs were added to the total. Against Northern Districts at Christchurch, with match figures of 12 for 81, including 7 for 49 in the first innings, he recorded his best innings and match figures for Canterbury. He also bettered his brother Dayle’s match record against Northern Districts of 11 for 116 at Whangarei in 1972/73. At Rangiora Hadlee had a good all-round match but Auckland were mostly in control of this game. With a splendid analysis of 23-10-32-5, Hadlee prevented Auckland (323) from making an even larger total and then kept his side in touch with a score of 50*, which included one six and six fours in 101 minutes. Canterbury lost their last Shell Trophy game to Central Districts by five wickets and Hadlee, as in the previous encounter between the two sides, was eclipsed by Martin Crowe (144 and 151). Hadlee added to his tally of Test wickets in the series against the West Indies. In the Second Test at Auckland he returned figures of 6 for 105 in the West Indies’ first innings, including the wickets of Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards (14) but not before the former had made 213! At Christchurch, Hadlee (6-50) and Ewen Chatfield (4-30) gave their side a great start to the Third Test by dismissing the West Indies for just a 100 after rain had washed out play on the first day. In the three Tests against the West Indies Hadlee captured 17 wickets and that ended a highly successful first-class season for him with 62 wickets at 15.08 each, taking five wickets in an innings eight times and capturing 50 wickets in a New Zealand first-class season for the third time. Only Stephen Boock with 66 wickets at 16.48 in 1977/78 has taken more wickets in a New Zealand first-class season. The summer also saw Hadlee become Canterbury’s leading wicket-taker in first-class games when in the match against Auckland at Eden Park, he went past Tom Burtt’s record of 241 wickets for the South Island side. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 288. Canterbury v Wellington, Christchurch, January 6, 7, 8 (Match drawn) b J.P.Millmow 7 265 20 7 62 2 A.H.Jones lbw 383-7d 2 E.J.Gray c and b b P.J.W.Allott 33 293-9d 289. Canterbury v Auckland, Auckland, January 10, 11, 12 (Canterbury won by 12 runs) lbw b S.R.Gillespie 0 186 19 4 39 5 R.I.J.MacKinlay lbw 154 A.J.Hunt lbw P.N.Webb lbw P.J.Kelly b G.B.Troup b c J.J.Crowe b J.G.Bracewell 7 197 19 7 29 2 R.I.J.MacKinlay lbw 217 1 P.J.Kelly lbw 290. Canterbury v Northern Districts, Gisborne, January 14, 15, 16 (Match drawn) did not bat - 403-4d 27 8 44 5 L.M.Crocker lbw 401-8d M.G.Harding c B.J.Ward D.J.White c B.J.Ward G.W.McKenzie b B.A.Young c R.T.Latham did not bat - 58-3 6 2 17 2 L.M.Crocker lbw 298-6d M.G.Harding c P.E.McEwan 291. Canterbury v Otago, Alexandra, January 18, 19, 20 (Otago won by four wickets) c W.K.Lees b T.J.Wilson 11 207 26.4 11 28 5 K.R.Rutherford c B.J.Ward 174 B.R.Blair c R.T.Latham J.K.Lindsay lbw T.J.Wilson b J.A.J.Cushen c V.R.Brown b S.L.Boock 9 217-8d 19.3 4 51 4 K.R.Rutherford lbw 253-6 J.K.Lindsay lbw W.K.Lees lbw T.J.Wilson b 63