New Zealand national cricket team
 | |
| As of 19 May 2006 |
The New Zealand cricket team, also known as the Black Caps, played their first Test in 1930 vs England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth Test nation. It took the team until 1956 to win a Test, against the West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland. They played their first ODI in the 1972 1973 season vs Pakistan in Christchurch.
The current captain is Stephen Fleming, who follows in the footsteps of former greats such as John R. Reid, Geoff Howarth and Martin Crowe. Stephen Fleming is the Black Caps' most successful captain, having led New Zealand to 27 Test victories (to July 2006), more than double that of any other captain.
The New Zealand cricket team became known as the Black Caps in January 1998, after its sponsor at the time, Clear Communications, held a competition to choose a name for the team.
Key Players
| Name | Province | Debut | Role | Best Performance (ODI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Fleming | Wellington | 1994 | Captain & Opening Batsman | 134 not out |
| Daniel Vettori | Northern Districts | 1997 | Vice Captain & Left-Arm Orthodox Bowler | 5/30 |
| Shane Bond | Canterbury | 2001 | Strike Bowler: Right-Arm Fast | 6/19 Against Zimbabwe |
| Brendan McCullum | Canterbury | 2002 | Wicket Keeper & Right-Hand Batsman | 56 not out |
| Nathan Astle | Canterbury | 1995 | Opening Right-Hand Batsman | 145 not out against USA |
| Peter Fulton | Canterbury | 2005 | Opening Right-Hand Batsman | 112 Against Sri Lanka |
| Jeetan Patel | Wellington | 2005 | Right-Hand Off-Spin Bowler | 3/42 Against Sri Lanka |
Current Test record (March 2006)
| Won | 61 |
| Lost | 128 |
| Drawn | 138 |
| Played | 327 |
|---|
First Test series wins
| Opponent | Year of first Home win | Year of first Away win |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1986 | 1985 |
| Bangladesh | 2001 | 2004 |
| England | 1984 | 1986 |
| India | 1981 | No series won as at 2006 |
| Pakistan | 1985 | 1969 |
| South Africa | No series won as at 2006 | No series won as at 2006 |
| Sri Lanka | 1983 | 1984 |
| West Indies | 1980 | 2002 |
| Zimbabwe | 1998 | 1992 |
First Test match wins
| Opponent | Home | Away | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Year | Venue | Year | |
| Australia | Christchurch | 1974 | Brisbane | 1985 |
| Bangladesh | Hamilton | 2001 | Dhaka | 2004 |
| England | Basin Reserve Wellington | 1978 | Headingley Leeds | 1983 |
| India | Christchurch | 1968 | Nagpur | 1969 |
| Pakistan | Auckland | 1985 | Lahore | 1969 |
| Sri Lanka | Christchurch | 1983 | Kandy | 1984 |
| South Africa | Auckland | 2004 | Cape Town | 1962 |
| West Indies | Auckland | 1956 | Barbados | 2002 |
| Zimbabwe | Basin Reserve Wellington | 1998 | Harare | 1992 |
Tournament History
- 1975: Semi Finals
- 1979: Semi Finals
- 1983: First round
- 1987: First round
- 1992: Semi Finals
- 1996: Quarter Finals
- 1999: Semi Finals
- 2003: 5th place
- 1998: Quarter Finals
- 2000: Won
- 1998: Bronze medal
- 1986: Semi Finals
- 1990: Semi Finals
- 1994: Semi Finals
All rounders
New Zealand is the only Test playing country to have two players who have achieved the allrounder’s double of 3000 Test runs and 200 Test wickets. The current (2006) list is:
| Player | Country | Runs | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Sobers | West Indies | 8032 | 235 |
| Kapil Dev | India | 5248 | 434 |
| Ian Botham | England | 5200 | 383 |
| Richard Hadlee | New Zealand | 3124 | 431 |
| Imran Khan | Pakistan | 3807 | 362 |
| Shaun Pollock | South Africa | 3406 | 391 |
| Christopher Cairns | New Zealand | 3320 | 218 |
Tournament Victories
The Black Caps won the ICC Knock-Out Trophy vs India Nairobi Gymkhana Club Nairobi Kenya 2000.
2004 NatWest Series Trophy held in England (West Indies/England/New Zealand).
2005 Videocon TriSeries held in Zimbabwe (India/Zimbabwe/New Zealand).
Highest Test innings total
Away
Home
- 671-4 vs Sri Lanka Basin Reserve Wellington 1990-1991 season
Lowest Test Innings total
Away
Home
Highest individual Test innings
Away
- 274 not out Stephen Fleming vs Sri Lanka Colombo 2003 season
Home
- 299 Martin Crowe vs Sri Lanka Basin Reserve Wellington 1990-1991 season
Highest Wicket Stands
| Wicket | Total | Batsman | vs | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 387 | Terrence Jarvis / Glenn Turner | West Indies | Georgetown | 1971-1972 |
| 2nd | 241 | John Wright /Andrew Jones | England | Wellington | 1991-1992 |
| 3rd | 467 | Andrew Jones / Martin Crowe | Sri Lanka | Wellington | 1990-1991 |
| 4th | 243 | Nathan Astle / Matthew Horne | Zimbabwe | Auckland | 1997-1998 |
| 5th | 222 | Craig McMillan / Nathan Astle | Zimbabwe | Wellington | 2000-2001 |
| 6th | 246* | Jeff Crowe / Richard Hadlee | Sri Lanka | Colombo | 1986-1987 |
| 7th | 225 | Chris Cairns / Jacob Oram | South Africa | Auckland | 2003-2004 |
| 8th | 256 | Stephen Fleming / James Franklin | South Africa | Cape Town | 2005-2006 |
| 9th | 136 | Martin Snedden / Ian Smith | India | Auckland | 1989-1990 |
| 10th § | 151 | Brian Hastings / Richard Collinge | Pakistan | Auckland | 1972-1973 |
§ The highest wicket stands for all Test nations.
Largest Test Victory Margins
| Margin | vs | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Innings and 294 runs | Zimbabwe | Harare | 2005-2006 |
| Innings and 185 runs | Pakistan | Hamilton | 2000-2001 |
| Innings and 132 runs | England | Christchurch | 1983-1984 |
| Innings and 105 runs | West Indies | Wellington | 1999-2000 |
| Innings and 99 runs | Pakistan | Auckland | 1984-1985 |
| Innings and 74 runs | Bangladesh | Wellington | 2001-2002 |
| Innings and 61 runs | Sri Lanka | Colombo | 1983-1984 |
| Innings and 52 runs | Bangladesh | Hamilton | 2001-2002 |
World Records
- Richard Hadlee, one of New Zealand and the world's best all-rounders, took the world record for most Test wickets (374) vs India Bangalore 1988. He lost the record to Kapil Dev. Hadlee was the first bowler to reach 400 Test wickets vs India Christchurch 1990
- Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe held the highest ever 3rd-wicket partnership in Tests which at the time was the highest partnership for any wicket. [1].
- Brian Hastings and Richard Collinge together scored 151 runs for the highest ever 10th-wicket partnership against Pakistan in 1973. [2].
- Nathan Astle scored Test cricket's fastest ever double century versus England Christchurch 2002 [3]. He scored 200 off 153 balls with the second hundred coming off just 39 deliveries. He was eventually out for 222 — the dreaded double Nelson. He knocked the first hundred off 114 balls. Astle smashed the record by 59 balls, previously held by Adam Gilchrist Australia vs South Africa Johannesburg 2002).
- Geoff Allott holds the record for the longest time taken to score a duck [4]. South Africa Auckland 1999. He faced 77 balls in 101 minutes for his zero score.
- Danny Morrison held another "unwanted" record for the most ducks in Test cricket — (24). He lost the record to Courtney Walsh.
- Chris Cairns and his father Lance Cairns are one of the two father-son combination to each claim 100 Test wickets, the Pollocks being the other.
- Chris Cairns holds the record for the most Test sixes [5]. He passed Viv Richards record of 84 (vs England Lords London 2004) and retired from Test cricket with 87.
- Chris Harris is the only New Zealand cricketer to have taken 200 wickets in ODI's. (vs England Lords London 2004). He is only the second player in ODI's to complete the 4000 run / 200 wicket double. (The other is Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya).
- Fast bowler Shane Bond holds the best strike rate in the history of One Day International cricket of 26.5 (one player out for every 26.5 balls bowled) [6].
- The New Zealand team holds the dubious honour of the record for the most consecutive Test series played without a win - 30 series between 1929-30 and 1969-70 (40 years), comfortably ahead of Bangladesh on 16 series. [7]
Notable
- New Zealand dismissed Zimbabwe (Harare 2005) twice in the same day for totals of 59 and 99. Zimbabwe became only the second team (after India Manchester 1952) to be dismissed twice in the same day. The whole Test was completed inside two days.
- Daniel Vettori scored NZ's fastest Test century. (vs Zimbabwe Harare 2005). Vettori needed only 82 balls to reach the 100 mark.
- In the same match, he became the third NZ cricketer (after Richard Hadlee and Chris Cairns) to take more than 200 Test wickets.
- Lou Vincent holds the record for the highest one-day cricket innings by a New Zealander of 172 (vs Zimbabwe Bulawayo 2005). The previous best was Glenn Turner 171 not out (vs East Africa Birmingham 1975). Vincent and captain Stephen Fleming broke the New Zealand one-day opening partnership record against all countries. Their total of 204 beat Fleming and Nathan Astle's 193 (vs Pakistan Dunedin 2000-2001). The team total of 397 was just one run short of the record one-day total of 398 (Sri Lanka vs Kenya Kandy 1996).
New Zealand Cricket Captains
See: New Zealand national cricket captains
Black Caps players in Wikipedia
See Category:New Zealand cricketers
External links
- BLACKCAPS official website
- New Zealand cricket
- Beige Brigade Official Website
- Cricinfo New Zealand
- A somewhat wacky site - Fun with the Black Caps
- Cricket database
