New Zealand cricket team in England in 1994
Encyclopedia
The New Zealand cricket team
toured England in the 1994 season, and were scheduled to play three Test matches and two One Day Internationals. Earlier in 1994, the New Zealanders had lost a home series to Pakistan
, 2-1, with the reverse swing of Wasim Akram
and Waqar Younis
proving decisive. They also drew a one-off test with India
, and split the ODI series with their two opponents evenly.
England were returning from defeat in the Caribbean
, and had a new Chairman of Selectors - Ray Illingworth
- who was expected to make changes to the squad. He duly did: Peter Such
and Phillip DeFreitas
were both recalled at the start of the summer, and Steve Rhodes
, Craig White
and Darren Gough
all made their debuts in Illingworth's first days in charge.
The tourists preparations were severely hampered by bad weather, which forced the abandonment of the second ODI, and injury - strike bowler Danny Morrison
was ruled out of any part in the Test series.
's new broom was in evidence in the First Test, with wicket-keeper
Steve Rhodes
and all-rounder
Craig White
making their Test debuts for England, while Phillip DeFreitas
and Peter Such
, who missed the winter tour to the Caribbean
, was recalled to the England side. For New Zealand, vice-captain Gavin Larsen
made his Test debut, as did quick bowler
Heath Davis.
The tourists won the toss and batted, but after surviving the initial burst from Devon Malcolm
, the top order succumbed to DeFreitas (4-94), who drew three edges into the slip cordon and had captain Ken Rutherford
adjudged lbw. Stephen Fleming
(54) was the only batsman to have any answer to the England bowlers as New Zealand slipped to 108/5. Adam Parore
and Matthew Hart
put up some late-order resistance, but could only help the visitors to a total of 251. Coach Keith Fletcher
described DeFreitas's efforts as "the best I have seen him bowl for a while" at the close of the first day.
In reply, England lost Alec Stewart
very early, hitting Davis to Larsen at mid-on, but Graham Gooch
, back in the side after opting to miss the tour of the West Indies, and Mike Atherton
dug in and batted out the remainder of the day. The stand was broken at a superb 263 early on the third day, with Atherton falling for 101, but Gooch continued on his merry way, including adding a good stand with Robin Smith
(78) before he eventually went for 210 (29 fours) in an innings just short of seven hours. Smith and Rhodes (49) added 68, and DeFreitas added to his earlier bowling exploits with a quick-fire half-century, before Atherton declared the innings on the fourth morning.
New Zealand's second innings started smoothly, with Blair Hartland
and Bryan Young
adding 59 before Hartland became DeFreitas's hundredth Test victim. Young went on to make 53, but that ended up being the tourists highest score. Such bowled extremely economically in the middle of the innings, his 34 overs conceding just 50 runs, and he picked up the wickets of Rutherford and Shane Thomson
, and although Parore once again dug in to try and restore some pride, when DeFreitas (5-71) returned he wiped up the tail, finally removing Parore (42) caught behind as the last wicket.
Between the First and Second Tests, noted cricket writer Scyld Berry praised Atherton's captaincy and called for England to be ruthless and dominate the rest of the series in the same manner as they had won the First Test, noting that "a full length and a little swing are enough to expose New Zealand", who seemed heavily dependent on big scores from Martin Crowe
to make a game of it.
came into the New Zealand line-up for Hartland and bowlers Chris Pringle
and Michael Owens replaced Davis and Larsen. New Zealand won the toss and batted first again, and although Rutherford and Fleming made starts, they looked in trouble at 138/4. Martin Crowe turned the innings around though: he and Shane Thomson
(69) added 180 for the fifth wicket, a new record against England, with Crowe despatching the ball to all parts of the ground, despite struggling with a leg injury that saw him hobbling around late in the day. He was eventually caught at midwicket for 142, but Parore and Dion Nash
(56) pushed the score up to 476.
Atherton and Alec Stewart
got England's reply off to a solid start, but then the hosts slipped to 101/4. Graeme Hick
(58) and White (51) added 92, stabilising the innings, and Rhodes made an unbeaten 32 in nearly four hours, but with limited support from the tail: Angus Fraser
hung around for more than an hour, but England's total was definitely sub-par, and they only just scraped past the follow-on mark. Nash (6-76) starred with the ball for the New Zealanders and Hart was miserly, with figures of 44-21-50-1.
DeFreitas made quick work of the New Zealand top order the next morning, having Pocock and Rutherford leg before and Crowe clean bowled before any of them could made double figures, and at 29/3, it looked as though England make a comeback in the match. Young (94) and Fleming, and then Thomson, dug in and allowed the visitors to set a fourth innings target of 407 for England, which looked in danger when Atherton and Stewart got off to a flyer. Nash grabbed the wickets of Atheton and Gooch early on the final morning to stem the flow and set up a more tense day, but Stewart was undeterred, and added 76 with Smith and 74 with Hick, before also falling to Nash (5-93). White, DeFreitas and Fraser all fell quickly, giving the tourists hope of levelling the series, but Rhodes batted for two hours for his 24 not out, and England held on for the draw.
New Zealand were indebted to Crowe's batting and Nash's bowling, and came close to recording the vistory. England skipper Atherton admitted that he'd found it too tense to watch the final half hour, while Rutherford bemoaned the bad lightthat prevented him using his quicker bowlers at the end and felt they deserved to win, noting that "a draw wasn't a true reflection of the game".
. However, the only change to the team saw Darren Gough
make his Test debut in place of Paul Taylor. The visitors also made one change, Mark Greatbatch
returning to the side to open the innings in place of Blair Pocock.
Atherton won the toss and chose to bat, a decision that his fellow top order batsmen made a mockery of as they collapsed around him to the seam of Nash and Owens. From 104/4 though, White (42) provided his captain with some support, and although 199/4 at the close of the first day wasn't a great score, it showed Atherton's character. Unbeaten on 96 overnight, he quickly moved to his century, but almost immediately lost White to Owens. When Atherton was finally dismissed for 111, and Rhodes followed him soon after, England's total (235/7) looked anaemic, but some solid late-order hitting from Gough (65) and DeFreitas (69) sent the New Zealand fielders scurrying to all parts of the ground, and they added a superb 130 before DeFreitas missed a straight one from Owens.
The tourists' reply started badly, with Gough and DeFreitas combining excellently with ball as well as bat, and removing the top four before the close on the second day, with only Martin Crowe defying the England seamers. Day three saw the pattern continue - Crowe (70) blasted his way through the bowling, but none of the other New Zealanders had an answer. Their coach, Geoff Howarth
commented that "There were too many bad shots to get out, a lack
of timing, feet not moving to the pitch of the ball, that sort of thing", indicating it was a lack of application, rather than lack of ability that was the problem.
Howarth's comments were emphasised with four wickets falling in similar fashion very quickly in the follow-on, leaving New Zealand 73/4, and with more than two full days still to play only an England victory looked likely. Crowe (115) and Parore (71) dug in though, adding 141 for the sixth wicket, a new record for the sixth wicket against England. Their partnership proved vital as the elements came to the visitors rescue - only 40 overs play was possible over the final two days - and although DeFreitas returned on the final day to pick up the wickets of the two stalwarts, New Zealand hung on for a draw.
made their One-day International debuts for England. Chris Pringle
's five wicket haul was his only one in ODIs.
.
Atherton looked solid as captain, and proved that the greater pressure the team is under, the more he is able to respond with the bat - an excellent trait - but his skills in the field have yet to be seriously tested.
The series was won comfortably, and the performances of Atherton and DeFreitas in particular very encouraging for future series', but the New Zealanders presented less of a challenge than they might have done, and the result was as much a reflection of that as of the England performance. The subsequent series against South Africa would provide more of a benchmark for the team.
Mike Selvey commented on the success of the summer in The Guardian, but with caution: "To give all credit to Illingworth, however, would be wrong. English Test cricket began its upward mobility pre-Raymond, when Atherton was appointed captain. In the West Indies, with a young side, the learning curve went up as the tour progressed", and noted that "His loyalty to
Robin Smith and Graeme Hick is probably going beyond the pale...the team must move on beyond these two..."
In fairness, the tourists were shorn of key members of their bowling attack: Danny Morrison
made the tour party but was not fit to take part in the Test series, whilst Chris Cairns and Simon Doull
did not make the squad. However, the bowling was less of a concern than the batting. Dion Nash
performed superbly, picking up 17 wickets and Michael Owens and Matthew Hart
provided admirable support, if lacking penetration. Captain Ken Rutherford noted at the end of the series that "...the balance of our side with Thomson, Hart and the three
seamers is a good one. If we had Danny Morrison, Chris Cairns and Nash as our three front liners, that's useful."
Of the batsmen, only Martin Crowe
and Adam Parore
play consistently well. Bryan Young
and Shane Thomson
made promising cameos, and Stephen Fleming
also looked a good prospect for the future, but New Zealand's reliance on Crowe's runs was evident in this series. The tourists only came close to winning the match he scored most heavily in, and he saved the Third Test with two vital innings providing the core of the resistance.
Following the series, partly in response to criticism from former Kiwi captain Glenn Turner
, New Zealand Cricket announced that several of the problems identified during the tour were already being addressed, with new injury/fitness regimes being implemented.
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
toured England in the 1994 season, and were scheduled to play three Test matches and two One Day Internationals. Earlier in 1994, the New Zealanders had lost a home series to Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
, 2-1, with the reverse swing of Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....
and Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis Maitla is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time...
proving decisive. They also drew a one-off test with India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
, and split the ODI series with their two opponents evenly.
England were returning from defeat in the Caribbean
English cricket team in West Indies in 1993-94
England came into the First Test with some confidence, having enjoyed a largely successful series of warm-up matches and winning the first One-day International. Captain Mike Atherton was in particularly good form with the bat at the top of the order...
, and had a new Chairman of Selectors - Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
- who was expected to make changes to the squad. He duly did: Peter Such
Peter Such
Peter Mark Such is an English cricketer. A hard-working county off-spinner, Such was brought into the Test arena in 1993 as a replacement for John Emburey but, despite taking 6 for 67 on debut, only played an initial 4 Tests before having to wait 5 years before his next appearance.Such enjoyed a...
and Phillip DeFreitas
Phillip DeFreitas
Phillip Anthony Jason "Daffy" DeFreitas is a retired English cricketer. He played county cricket for Leicestershire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, as well as appearing in forty four Test matches and 103 ODIs...
were both recalled at the start of the summer, and Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes is a former English cricketer. He was best known as a wicket-keeper, but was also a useful number six or seven batsman, making twelve first-class centuries....
, Craig White
Craig White
Craig White is an English former first-class cricketer, and latterly cricket coach.-Life and career:...
and Darren Gough
Darren Gough
Darren Gough is a retired English cricketer and former captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The spearhead of England's bowling attack through much of the 1990s, he is England's highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals with 234, and took 229 wickets in his 58 Test matches, making him...
all made their debuts in Illingworth's first days in charge.
The tourists preparations were severely hampered by bad weather, which forced the abandonment of the second ODI, and injury - strike bowler Danny Morrison
Danny Morrison (cricketer)
Daniel Kyle Morrison is a former New Zealand cricketer . He specialised as a pace bowler with a useful outswinger. He made his test debut for New Zealand in 1987 at the age of 21 against Australia....
was ruled out of any part in the Test series.
Squads
| England | New Zealand |
|---|---|
|
Ken Rutherford (cricketer) Kenneth Robert Rutherford is a former New Zealand cricketer who enjoyed a ten-year career with the national team, and was captain for a period. Aged 19, with a solitary first class season behind him, he was asked to open the batting for New Zealand against West Indies when the latter were at the... (c) Adam Parore Adam Craig Parore is a former wicket-keeper and batsman for the New Zealand cricket team. He played 78 Test cricket matches for New Zealand and 179 One Day International cricket matches... (wk) Martin Crowe Martin David Crowe is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1985, and was credited as one of the "best young batsmen in the world". Crowe represented New Zealand from the early 1980s until his retirement in 1996 as a right-handed batsman... Heath Davis Heath Te-Ihi-O-Te-Rangi Davis is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played five Tests and eleven One Day Internationals in the 1990s.... Simon Doull Simon Blair Doull is a New Zealand radio personality, commentator and former international cricketer. He was a right arm medium pace swing bowler, and played in 32 Test matches and 42 One Day Internationals for the New Zealand national cricket team... Stephen Fleming Stephen Paul Fleming ONZM is a New Zealand cricketer, and the former captain of the New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, in Test and one-day cricket... . Mark Greatbatch Mark John Greatbatch was a New Zealand cricketer. He scored more than 2,000 runs in his 41 Tests for New Zealand... Matthew Hart Matthew Norman Hart is a New Zealand cricketer. Hart, a left-arm orthodox spinner, played in 14 Tests between 1994 and 1996, claiming 29 wickets including one five-wicket haul against South Africa... Blair Hartland Blair Robert Hartland is a former New Zealand cricketer who played nine Tests and 16 One Day Internationals for New Zealand... Gavin Larsen Gavin Rolf Larsen is a former New Zealand cricketer who specialised in the art of economical bowling. He was known playfully by his team mates as "The Postman", as mentioned in Danny Morrison's biography, Mad As I Wanna Be... Danny Morrison (cricketer) Daniel Kyle Morrison is a former New Zealand cricketer . He specialised as a pace bowler with a useful outswinger. He made his test debut for New Zealand in 1987 at the age of 21 against Australia.... Dion Nash Dion Joseph Nash played for the New Zealand cricket team, captaining the team in 1999 with the injury of regular captain Stephen Fleming... Blair Pocock Blair Andrew Pocock is a New Zealand cricket player who played 15 Tests for his national side. He was born in Papakura, New Zealand.... Chris Pringle Christopher Pringle is a former New Zealand cricketer. A fast bowler who played 14 Tests and 64 One Day Internationals for New Zealand between 1990 and 1995.... Shane Thomson Shane Alexander Thomson is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played 19 Tests and 56 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He was dropped by the national selectors after the 1996 Cricket World Cup.... Bryan Young (cricketer) Bryan Andrew Young is a cricketer who has played 35 Tests and 74 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He is perhaps most well known for pocketing the ball after taking a catch while fielding in the slips.... |
First Test (2-6 June)
Ray IllingworthRay Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
's new broom was in evidence in the First Test, with wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes is a former English cricketer. He was best known as a wicket-keeper, but was also a useful number six or seven batsman, making twelve first-class centuries....
and all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
Craig White
Craig White
Craig White is an English former first-class cricketer, and latterly cricket coach.-Life and career:...
making their Test debuts for England, while Phillip DeFreitas
Phillip DeFreitas
Phillip Anthony Jason "Daffy" DeFreitas is a retired English cricketer. He played county cricket for Leicestershire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, as well as appearing in forty four Test matches and 103 ODIs...
and Peter Such
Peter Such
Peter Mark Such is an English cricketer. A hard-working county off-spinner, Such was brought into the Test arena in 1993 as a replacement for John Emburey but, despite taking 6 for 67 on debut, only played an initial 4 Tests before having to wait 5 years before his next appearance.Such enjoyed a...
, who missed the winter tour to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, was recalled to the England side. For New Zealand, vice-captain Gavin Larsen
Gavin Larsen
Gavin Rolf Larsen is a former New Zealand cricketer who specialised in the art of economical bowling. He was known playfully by his team mates as "The Postman", as mentioned in Danny Morrison's biography, Mad As I Wanna Be...
made his Test debut, as did quick bowler
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
Heath Davis.
The tourists won the toss and batted, but after surviving the initial burst from Devon Malcolm
Devon Malcolm
Devon Malcolm is a former English cricketer.Malcolm was one of England's few genuinely fast bowlers of the 1990s. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he settled in England, making his first-class debut for Derbyshire in 1984, and qualifying to play for England in 1987...
, the top order succumbed to DeFreitas (4-94), who drew three edges into the slip cordon and had captain Ken Rutherford
Ken Rutherford (cricketer)
Kenneth Robert Rutherford is a former New Zealand cricketer who enjoyed a ten-year career with the national team, and was captain for a period. Aged 19, with a solitary first class season behind him, he was asked to open the batting for New Zealand against West Indies when the latter were at the...
adjudged lbw. Stephen Fleming
Stephen Fleming
Stephen Paul Fleming ONZM is a New Zealand cricketer, and the former captain of the New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, in Test and one-day cricket...
(54) was the only batsman to have any answer to the England bowlers as New Zealand slipped to 108/5. Adam Parore
Adam Parore
Adam Craig Parore is a former wicket-keeper and batsman for the New Zealand cricket team. He played 78 Test cricket matches for New Zealand and 179 One Day International cricket matches...
and Matthew Hart
Matthew Hart
Matthew Norman Hart is a New Zealand cricketer. Hart, a left-arm orthodox spinner, played in 14 Tests between 1994 and 1996, claiming 29 wickets including one five-wicket haul against South Africa...
put up some late-order resistance, but could only help the visitors to a total of 251. Coach Keith Fletcher
Keith Fletcher
Keith Fletcher is a former English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. He later became England's team manager. His nickname was "The Gnome of Essex", so christened by his Essex team-mate, Ray East, because Fletcher's winklepickers had begun to curl up at the toes due to wear...
described DeFreitas's efforts as "the best I have seen him bowl for a while" at the close of the first day.
In reply, England lost Alec Stewart
Alec Stewart
Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team...
very early, hitting Davis to Larsen at mid-on, but Graham Gooch
Graham Gooch
Graham Alan Gooch OBE DL is a former cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057 runs...
, back in the side after opting to miss the tour of the West Indies, and Mike Atherton
Mike Atherton
Michael Andrew Atherton OBE is a broadcaster, journalist and retired England international cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England,and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the captaincy of England at the age of 25 and led the side in a record 54 Test matches...
dug in and batted out the remainder of the day. The stand was broken at a superb 263 early on the third day, with Atherton falling for 101, but Gooch continued on his merry way, including adding a good stand with Robin Smith
Robin Smith (cricketer)
Robin Arnold Smith is a former cricketer for Hampshire and England.Smith was nicknamed Judge or Judgie for his resemblance to a judge when he grew his hair long...
(78) before he eventually went for 210 (29 fours) in an innings just short of seven hours. Smith and Rhodes (49) added 68, and DeFreitas added to his earlier bowling exploits with a quick-fire half-century, before Atherton declared the innings on the fourth morning.
New Zealand's second innings started smoothly, with Blair Hartland
Blair Hartland
Blair Robert Hartland is a former New Zealand cricketer who played nine Tests and 16 One Day Internationals for New Zealand...
and Bryan Young
Bryan Young (cricketer)
Bryan Andrew Young is a cricketer who has played 35 Tests and 74 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He is perhaps most well known for pocketing the ball after taking a catch while fielding in the slips....
adding 59 before Hartland became DeFreitas's hundredth Test victim. Young went on to make 53, but that ended up being the tourists highest score. Such bowled extremely economically in the middle of the innings, his 34 overs conceding just 50 runs, and he picked up the wickets of Rutherford and Shane Thomson
Shane Thomson
Shane Alexander Thomson is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played 19 Tests and 56 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He was dropped by the national selectors after the 1996 Cricket World Cup....
, and although Parore once again dug in to try and restore some pride, when DeFreitas (5-71) returned he wiped up the tail, finally removing Parore (42) caught behind as the last wicket.
Between the First and Second Tests, noted cricket writer Scyld Berry praised Atherton's captaincy and called for England to be ruthless and dominate the rest of the series in the same manner as they had won the First Test, noting that "a full length and a little swing are enough to expose New Zealand", who seemed heavily dependent on big scores from Martin Crowe
Martin Crowe
Martin David Crowe is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1985, and was credited as one of the "best young batsmen in the world". Crowe represented New Zealand from the early 1980s until his retirement in 1996 as a right-handed batsman...
to make a game of it.
Second Test (16-20 June)
The Second Test saw Malcolm replaced by Paul Taylor, while Blair PocockBlair Pocock
Blair Andrew Pocock is a New Zealand cricket player who played 15 Tests for his national side. He was born in Papakura, New Zealand....
came into the New Zealand line-up for Hartland and bowlers Chris Pringle
Chris Pringle
Christopher Pringle is a former New Zealand cricketer. A fast bowler who played 14 Tests and 64 One Day Internationals for New Zealand between 1990 and 1995....
and Michael Owens replaced Davis and Larsen. New Zealand won the toss and batted first again, and although Rutherford and Fleming made starts, they looked in trouble at 138/4. Martin Crowe turned the innings around though: he and Shane Thomson
Shane Thomson
Shane Alexander Thomson is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played 19 Tests and 56 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He was dropped by the national selectors after the 1996 Cricket World Cup....
(69) added 180 for the fifth wicket, a new record against England, with Crowe despatching the ball to all parts of the ground, despite struggling with a leg injury that saw him hobbling around late in the day. He was eventually caught at midwicket for 142, but Parore and Dion Nash
Dion Nash
Dion Joseph Nash played for the New Zealand cricket team, captaining the team in 1999 with the injury of regular captain Stephen Fleming...
(56) pushed the score up to 476.
Atherton and Alec Stewart
Alec Stewart
Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team...
got England's reply off to a solid start, but then the hosts slipped to 101/4. Graeme Hick
Graeme Hick
Graeme Ashley Hick MBE is a Zimbabwean-born cricketer who played 65 Test matches and 120 One Day Internationals for England. He played county cricket for Worcestershire for his entire English domestic career, a period of well over twenty years, and in 2008 he surpassed Graham Gooch's record for...
(58) and White (51) added 92, stabilising the innings, and Rhodes made an unbeaten 32 in nearly four hours, but with limited support from the tail: Angus Fraser
Angus Fraser
Angus Robert Charles Fraser is the current Managing Director of Cricket of Middlesex County Cricket Club, and a former English cricketer and journalist....
hung around for more than an hour, but England's total was definitely sub-par, and they only just scraped past the follow-on mark. Nash (6-76) starred with the ball for the New Zealanders and Hart was miserly, with figures of 44-21-50-1.
DeFreitas made quick work of the New Zealand top order the next morning, having Pocock and Rutherford leg before and Crowe clean bowled before any of them could made double figures, and at 29/3, it looked as though England make a comeback in the match. Young (94) and Fleming, and then Thomson, dug in and allowed the visitors to set a fourth innings target of 407 for England, which looked in danger when Atherton and Stewart got off to a flyer. Nash grabbed the wickets of Atheton and Gooch early on the final morning to stem the flow and set up a more tense day, but Stewart was undeterred, and added 76 with Smith and 74 with Hick, before also falling to Nash (5-93). White, DeFreitas and Fraser all fell quickly, giving the tourists hope of levelling the series, but Rhodes batted for two hours for his 24 not out, and England held on for the draw.
New Zealand were indebted to Crowe's batting and Nash's bowling, and came close to recording the vistory. England skipper Atherton admitted that he'd found it too tense to watch the final half hour, while Rutherford bemoaned the bad lightthat prevented him using his quicker bowlers at the end and felt they deserved to win, noting that "a draw wasn't a true reflection of the game".
Third Test (30 June - 5 July)
Prior to the Third Test there was considerable debate in the English press about whether Robin Smith and Graeme Hick should retain their places in the England side after their recent failures, and vocal support for the inclusion of Graham ThorpeGraham Thorpe
Graham Paul Thorpe MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey and England. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in exactly 100 Test matches.-Early life:...
. However, the only change to the team saw Darren Gough
Darren Gough
Darren Gough is a retired English cricketer and former captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The spearhead of England's bowling attack through much of the 1990s, he is England's highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals with 234, and took 229 wickets in his 58 Test matches, making him...
make his Test debut in place of Paul Taylor. The visitors also made one change, Mark Greatbatch
Mark Greatbatch
Mark John Greatbatch was a New Zealand cricketer. He scored more than 2,000 runs in his 41 Tests for New Zealand...
returning to the side to open the innings in place of Blair Pocock.
Atherton won the toss and chose to bat, a decision that his fellow top order batsmen made a mockery of as they collapsed around him to the seam of Nash and Owens. From 104/4 though, White (42) provided his captain with some support, and although 199/4 at the close of the first day wasn't a great score, it showed Atherton's character. Unbeaten on 96 overnight, he quickly moved to his century, but almost immediately lost White to Owens. When Atherton was finally dismissed for 111, and Rhodes followed him soon after, England's total (235/7) looked anaemic, but some solid late-order hitting from Gough (65) and DeFreitas (69) sent the New Zealand fielders scurrying to all parts of the ground, and they added a superb 130 before DeFreitas missed a straight one from Owens.
The tourists' reply started badly, with Gough and DeFreitas combining excellently with ball as well as bat, and removing the top four before the close on the second day, with only Martin Crowe defying the England seamers. Day three saw the pattern continue - Crowe (70) blasted his way through the bowling, but none of the other New Zealanders had an answer. Their coach, Geoff Howarth
Geoff Howarth
Geoffrey "Geoff" Philip Howarth OBE is a former New Zealand cricketer, who remains the only New Zealand captain to have positive win-loss records in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. Howarth played some Test cricket with his elder brother, Hedley Howarth, but most of his 47-Test career did not...
commented that "There were too many bad shots to get out, a lack
of timing, feet not moving to the pitch of the ball, that sort of thing", indicating it was a lack of application, rather than lack of ability that was the problem.
Howarth's comments were emphasised with four wickets falling in similar fashion very quickly in the follow-on, leaving New Zealand 73/4, and with more than two full days still to play only an England victory looked likely. Crowe (115) and Parore (71) dug in though, adding 141 for the sixth wicket, a new record for the sixth wicket against England. Their partnership proved vital as the elements came to the visitors rescue - only 40 overs play was possible over the final two days - and although DeFreitas returned on the final day to pick up the wickets of the two stalwarts, New Zealand hung on for a draw.
First ODI (19 May)
Darren Gough and Shaun UdalShaun Udal
Shaun David Udal is an English cricketer. An off spin bowler and lower-middle order batsman, he was a member of England's Test team for their tours to Pakistan and India in 2005/06.-International career:...
made their One-day International debuts for England. Chris Pringle
Chris Pringle
Christopher Pringle is a former New Zealand cricketer. A fast bowler who played 14 Tests and 64 One Day Internationals for New Zealand between 1990 and 1995....
's five wicket haul was his only one in ODIs.
Second ODI (21 May)
Match abandoned without a ball being bowled because of rain/ground conditions.England
Ray Illingworth's first series in charge of the England side provided an insight into his selection policies, with the inclusion of Gough, White, and DeFreitas as prongs of the attack to supplement the tireless Fraser and erratic Malcolm, and the retention of the old guard of batsmen at the expense of younger talent such as Thorpe and John CrawleyJohn Crawley
John Paul Crawley is a retired English professional cricketer, who represented England in 37 Test matches. He is regarded alongside his near contemporaries Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash as a hugely talented player who failed to realise his full potential at international level.Crawley is a...
.
Atherton looked solid as captain, and proved that the greater pressure the team is under, the more he is able to respond with the bat - an excellent trait - but his skills in the field have yet to be seriously tested.
The series was won comfortably, and the performances of Atherton and DeFreitas in particular very encouraging for future series', but the New Zealanders presented less of a challenge than they might have done, and the result was as much a reflection of that as of the England performance. The subsequent series against South Africa would provide more of a benchmark for the team.
Mike Selvey commented on the success of the summer in The Guardian, but with caution: "To give all credit to Illingworth, however, would be wrong. English Test cricket began its upward mobility pre-Raymond, when Atherton was appointed captain. In the West Indies, with a young side, the learning curve went up as the tour progressed", and noted that "His loyalty to
Robin Smith and Graeme Hick is probably going beyond the pale...the team must move on beyond these two..."
New Zealand
New Zealand will have been very disappointed by their performances on this tour, consistently failing to deliver on their potential, and underperforming against the counties and in two of the three Tests. Only at Lord's, where they were unlucky not to win did they show the sort of attitude and performance that they could have displayed throughout the tour.In fairness, the tourists were shorn of key members of their bowling attack: Danny Morrison
Danny Morrison (cricketer)
Daniel Kyle Morrison is a former New Zealand cricketer . He specialised as a pace bowler with a useful outswinger. He made his test debut for New Zealand in 1987 at the age of 21 against Australia....
made the tour party but was not fit to take part in the Test series, whilst Chris Cairns and Simon Doull
Simon Doull
Simon Blair Doull is a New Zealand radio personality, commentator and former international cricketer. He was a right arm medium pace swing bowler, and played in 32 Test matches and 42 One Day Internationals for the New Zealand national cricket team...
did not make the squad. However, the bowling was less of a concern than the batting. Dion Nash
Dion Nash
Dion Joseph Nash played for the New Zealand cricket team, captaining the team in 1999 with the injury of regular captain Stephen Fleming...
performed superbly, picking up 17 wickets and Michael Owens and Matthew Hart
Matthew Hart
Matthew Norman Hart is a New Zealand cricketer. Hart, a left-arm orthodox spinner, played in 14 Tests between 1994 and 1996, claiming 29 wickets including one five-wicket haul against South Africa...
provided admirable support, if lacking penetration. Captain Ken Rutherford noted at the end of the series that "...the balance of our side with Thomson, Hart and the three
seamers is a good one. If we had Danny Morrison, Chris Cairns and Nash as our three front liners, that's useful."
Of the batsmen, only Martin Crowe
Martin Crowe
Martin David Crowe is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1985, and was credited as one of the "best young batsmen in the world". Crowe represented New Zealand from the early 1980s until his retirement in 1996 as a right-handed batsman...
and Adam Parore
Adam Parore
Adam Craig Parore is a former wicket-keeper and batsman for the New Zealand cricket team. He played 78 Test cricket matches for New Zealand and 179 One Day International cricket matches...
play consistently well. Bryan Young
Bryan Young (cricketer)
Bryan Andrew Young is a cricketer who has played 35 Tests and 74 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He is perhaps most well known for pocketing the ball after taking a catch while fielding in the slips....
and Shane Thomson
Shane Thomson
Shane Alexander Thomson is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played 19 Tests and 56 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He was dropped by the national selectors after the 1996 Cricket World Cup....
made promising cameos, and Stephen Fleming
Stephen Fleming
Stephen Paul Fleming ONZM is a New Zealand cricketer, and the former captain of the New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, in Test and one-day cricket...
also looked a good prospect for the future, but New Zealand's reliance on Crowe's runs was evident in this series. The tourists only came close to winning the match he scored most heavily in, and he saved the Third Test with two vital innings providing the core of the resistance.
Following the series, partly in response to criticism from former Kiwi captain Glenn Turner
Glenn Turner
Glenn Maitland Turner played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel....
, New Zealand Cricket announced that several of the problems identified during the tour were already being addressed, with new injury/fitness regimes being implemented.