Cricket is the most popular summer sport in New Zealand, second only in total sporting popularity to rugby. New Zealand is one of the twelve countries that take part in Test match cricket.
History
The beginnings of cricket in New Zealand
The Reverend Henry Williams provided history with the first report of a game of cricket in New Zealand when he wrote in his diary in December 1832 about boys in and around Paihia on Horotutu Beach playing cricket. In 1835, Charles Darwin and called into the Bay of Islands on its circumnavigation of the Earth. Darwin witnessed a game of cricket played by freed Māori slaves and the son of a missionary at Waimate North. Darwin in The Voyage of the Beagle wrote:The Summer Game by D.O & P.W. Neely 1994 Page 11
several young men redeemed by the missionaires from slavery were employed on the farm. In the evening I saw a party of them at cricket.
The first recorded game of cricket in New Zealand took place in Wellington in December 1842. The Wellington Spectator reports a game on 28 December 1842 played by a "Red" team and a "Blue" team from the Wellington Club. The first fully recorded match was reported by the Examiner in Nelson between the Surveyors and Nelson in March 1844.
The first team to tour New Zealand was Parr's all England XI in 1863–64. Between 1864 and 1914, 22 foreign teams toured New Zealand. England sent six teams, Australia 15 and Fiji one.
First national team
The first team representing New Zealand on a national level played on 15–17 February 1894. The match was played against New South Wales at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. New South Wales won by 160 runs. New South Wales returned again in 1895–96 and New Zealand won the solitary game by 142 runs, its first victory. The New Zealand Cricket Council was formed towards the end of 1894.
New Zealand played its first two internationals (non Test matches) in 1904–05 against a star-studded Australia team containing such players as Victor Trumper, Warwick Armstrong and Clem Hill. Rain saved New Zealand from a thrashing in the first match but not the second which New Zealand lost by an innings and 358 runs – currently the second largest defeat in New Zealand first-class cricket.
Inter-war period
In 1927 New Zealand toured England. They played 26 first class matches, mostly against county sides. They managed to beat Worcestershire, Glamorgan, Somerset, and Derbyshire. On the strength of the performances on this tour New Zealand was granted Test status.
In 1929 to 1930 the M.C.C toured New Zealand and played four Tests all of three days in duration. New Zealand lost its first Test match but drew the next three. In the second Test Stewie Dempster and Jackie Mills put on 276 for the first wicket. This is still the highest partnership for New Zealand against England.
New Zealand first played South Africa in 1931–1932 but were unable to secure Test matches against any teams other than England before World War II ended all Test cricket for seven years. New Zealand's first Test after the war was against Australia in 1945–1946. This game was not considered a "Test" at the time but it was granted Test status retrospectively by the International Cricket Council in March 1948. The New Zealand players who appeared in this match probably did not appreciate this move by the ICC as New Zealand were dismissed for 42 and 54. A dispute between the New Zealand Cricket Council and Australian players over touring allowances meant that this was the only Test Australia played against New Zealand between 1929 and 1972.
Cricket after World War II
In 1949 New Zealand sent one of its best ever sides to England. It contained Bert Sutcliffe, Martin Donnelly, John R. Reid and Jack Cowie. However, three-day Test matches ensured that all four Tests were drawn.
New Zealand played its first matches against the West Indies in 1951–1952, and Pakistan and India in 1955–1956.
In 1954–1955 New Zealand recorded the lowest ever innings total, 26 against England. The following season New Zealand achieved its first Test victory. The first three Tests of a four Test series were won by the West Indies but New Zealand won the fourth to notch up its first Test victory. It had taken them 45 matches and 26 years. In the next 20 years New Zealand won only 7 more Tests. For most of this period New Zealand bowling attack lacked a leading performer of the highest caliber, though the team had two highly regarded batsmen in Glenn Turner and Bert Sutcliffe and a widely recognised all-rounder in John R. Reid.
1970–1971 to 2000
The 1973 Richard Hadlee debut marked a turning point in New Zealand's Test record. Hadlee was recognised as one of the best pace bowlers of his generation and played 86 Tests for New Zealand before he retired in 1990. Of the 86 Tests that Hadlee played in New Zealand, he won 22 and lost 28. In 1977–78 New Zealand won its first Test against England, at the 48th attempt. Hadlee took 10 wickets in the match.
During the 1980s New Zealand also had the services of one of its batsmen, Martin Crowe and a number of players such as John Wright, Bruce Edgar, John F. Reid, Andrew Jones, Geoff Howarth, Jeremy Coney, Ian Smith, John Bracewell, Lance Cairns, Stephen Boock, and Ewen Chatfield, who were capable of playing the occasional match winning performance and consistently making a contribution to a Test match.
The best example of New Zealand's two star players (R. Hadlee and M. Crowe) putting in match winning performances and other players making good contributions is New Zealand vs. Australia, 1985 at Brisbane. In Australia's first innings Hadlee took 9–52. In New Zealand's only innings, M Crowe scored 188 and John F. Reid 108. Edgar, Wright, Coney, Jeff Crowe, V. Brown, and Hadlee scored between 17 and 54*. In Australia's second innings, Hadlee took 6–71 and Chatfield 3–75. New Zealand won by an innings and 41 runs.
One-day cricket also gave New Zealand a chance to compete more regularly than Test cricket with the sides in world cricket. In one-day cricket a batsman doesn't need to score centuries to win games for his side and bowlers don't need to bowl the opposition out. One-day games can be won by one batsman getting a 50, a few others getting 30s, bowlers bowling economically and everyone fielding. These were requirements New Zealand players could consistently meet and thus developed an appropriate one-day record against all sides.
Perhaps New Zealand's most famous one-day match was the controversial "Under arm" match against Australia at the MCG in 1981. Requiring six runs to tie the match off the final ball, Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to "bowl" the ball underarm along the wicket to prevent the New Zealand batsman from hitting a six. The Australian umpires ruled the move as legal, remaining to this day one of cricket's most controversial calls.
When New Zealand next played in the tri-series in Australia in 1983, Lance Cairns became a crowd favourite for his one-day batting. In one match against Australia, he hit six sixes at the MCG, one of the world's largest grounds, though New Zealand lost this game by 149 runs.
Into the 21st Century
Chris Cairns, son of Lance Cairns, made his debut one year before Hadlee retired in 1990. Cairns led the 1990s bowling attack with Danny Morrison. Stephen Fleming, led the batting and the team into the 21st century. Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan also contributed for New Zealand, but both retired earlier than expected.
Daniel Vettori made his debut as an 18-year-old in 1997. When he took over from Fleming as captain in 2007 he was regarded as the best spinning allrounder in world cricket. On 26 August 2009, Daniel Vettori became the eighth player and second left-arm bowler (after Chaminda Vaas) in history to take 300 wickets and score 3000 test runs, joining the illustrious club. Vettori decided to take an indefinite break from international short form cricket in 2011 but will continue to represent New Zealand in Test cricket.
Shane Bond played 17 Tests for NZ between 2001 and 2007 but missed far more through injury. When fit, he added a dimension to the New Zealand bowling attack that had been missing since Hadlee retired.
The rise of the financial power of the Board of Control for Cricket in India had an immense effect on New Zealand cricket and its players. The BCCI managed to convince other boards not to pick players who had joined the rival Twenty-20 Indian Cricket League. New Zealand Cricket lost the services of Shane Bond, Lou Vincent, Andre Adams, Hamish Marshall and Daryl Tuffey. The money to be made from Twenty-20 cricket in India may have also induced players, such as Craig McMillan and Scott Styris (from Test cricket) to retire earlier than they would have otherwise. Bond and Tuffey eventually returned to play for New Zealand.
Administration
New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand.
National team National teams of New Zealand New Zealand (Men's) New Zealand (Women's) New Zealand U-19 (Men's) New Zealand U-19 (Women's) New Zealand A Men
The New Zealand national cricket team is governed by the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and is a member of the East Asia-Pacific. Since 1926, the NZC has been affiliated with ICC, the international governing body for world cricket.
Performance The following list includes the performance of all of New Zealand's national teams at major competitions.
Men's senior team
New Zealand was the inaugural winner of the ICC World Test Championship title. New Zealand lifted the 'Mace' in 2021 defeating India by 8 wickets in the final played at Rose bowl cricket ground in Southam-pton. In the same year New Zealand ended up as the runner up of ICC World Twenty20 Cricket World Cup.
Historically, the national cricket team has not been as successful as the national rugby union team. New Zealand played its first test in 1930 but had to wait until 1956 to win its first test. The national team began to have more success in the 1970s and 1980s. New Zealand's most famous cricketer, the fast bowler Richard Hadlee who was the first bowler to take 400 wickets in test cricket, played in this era. TournamentAppearance in finals Lastappearance Bestperformance ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2 out of 13 2023 ICC Men's T20 World Cup 1 out of 9 2024 ICC Champions Trophy 3 out of 8 2025 ICC World Test Championship 1 out of 3 2023–25 Commonwealth Games 0 out of 1 1998
Women's senior team
The New Zealand women's cricket team played their first Test match in 1935, when they lost to England. Since then they have only won two Tests, once against Australia, and once against South Africa.
Their greatest success in one-day cricket was when they won the 2000 World Cup under captain Emily Drumm. In a hotly contested final, they scored 184 to narrowly beat Australia by four runs, Australia being all out for 180. TournamentAppearance in finals Lastappearance Bestperformance ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 4 out of 12 2022 ICC Women's T20 World Cup 3 out of 9 2024 Commonwealth Games 0 out of 1 2022
Men's U-19 team
TournamentAppearance in finals Lastappearance Bestperformance ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 1 out of 15 2024
Women's U-19 team
TournamentAppearance in finals Lastappearance Bestperformance Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup 0 out of 1 2023
Organisation of cricket in modern New Zealand
International cricket
International cricket in New Zealand generally follow a fixed pattern. For example, the English schedule under which the nation tours other countries during the winter and plays at home during the summer. Generally, there has recently been a tendency to play more one-day matches than Test matches. Cricket in New Zealand is managed by the New Zealand Cricket (NZC).
Men's National Team