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New Zealand Special
19
OUTLAWS & KIWIS:
SIX OF THE BEST
Dave Bracegirdle explores the heritage of
Nottinghamshire’s most illustrious kiwi
contributors.
A close bond, stretching for almost 35 years,
has existed between Nottinghamshire’s
cricketers and their New Zealand
counterparts.
From the time that
Richard Hadlee
first
became an integral part of the Trent
Bridge dressing room in 1978, right up to
the modern-day favourite Andre Adams,
the Kiwis have offered more than their
distinctive southern-hemisphere twang to
the county’s successes.
Hadlee arrived in Nottingham on the
back of a match-winning performance in
Wellington when his second innings haul of
6-26, completing match figures of 10-100,
helped New Zealand to their first-ever Test
victory over England.
The-then 26-year-old already had
something of a reputation within the game
but the green, grassy wickets at Trent
Bridge were ideally-suited to his fast-
medium swing bowling and he went on to
poach 622 wickets in 148 appearances for
his adopted English county.
During a nine-year association, Hadlee
played a pivotal role in helping Notts
secure two county championship titles and
a Nat West Trophy success at Lord’s.
He was also a more-than-capable lower-
order batsman, good enough to score 14
first-class centuries, 11 of them for Notts
and in 1984 he completed the ‘double’ of
1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a domestic
season. Hadlee was awarded a knighthood
for his services to cricket in 1990.
Chris Cairns
was a virtually-unknown
17-year-old
when
he
made
his
Nottinghamshire debut against Kent in
1988. Although he claimed four wickets, the
match wasn’t that memorable as Notts were
bundled out for just 65 in their first innings.
It’s fair to say that things improved over the
years as Cairns went on to feature in 92
first -class matches for the county, scoring
4954 runs at an average of 37.81, as well as
picking up 241 wickets at 30 apiece.
Son of Lance, the former Test all-rounder,
Cairns junior proved to be as combative as his
old man with both bat and ball and returned
to Trent Bridge a number of times over the
course of his career, culminating in a season
of t20 cricket in 2008, by which time he was
used solely for his mighty smiting with the bat.
Perhaps the pinnacle of
Nathan Astle’s
international career was a quick-fire
double-hundred - the fastest in terms of
balls faced – as he scored 222 from just
168 deliveries, in a 2002 Test match at
Christchurch against England.
He didn’t quite reach those lofty heights
during his solitary season on the county
circuit but the hard-hitting right-
hander proved to be a useful asset for
Nottinghamshire in 1997.
After debuting with a duck at Northampton
he bounced back in style by scoring 99
against the touring Australians on his first
appearance at Trent Bridge.
Astle did score two centuries for Notts and
averaged 40.25 in his 10 first-class outings
for the county.
Slow left-arm spinner
Daniel Vettori
broke into the Black Caps international
reckoning in 1997, at just 18 years of age,
becoming the youngest player to represent
his country. Six years later he spent a brief
period with Notts, playing two first-class
matches, against India A and Kent, and
also one National League 45-over game at
The Rose Bowl against Hampshire.
That, plus an even shorter stint at
Warwickshire in 2006, remains Vettori’s only
active involvement in English county cricket.
Stephen Fleming
is New Zealand’s most
successful Test captain of all time, having
led his side to 28 victories.The left-handed
batsman brought his leadership credentials
with him to Trent Bridge in an eventful
Cairns junior
proved to be
as combative as
his old man
with both bat
and ball