The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Nicknamed the Blackcaps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 New Zealand had to wait until 1956, more than 26 years, for its first Test victory, against the West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland.[11] They played their first ODI in the 1972–73 season against Pakistan in Christchurch.
The New Zealand cricket team became known as the Blackcaps in January 1998, after its sponsor at the time, Clear Communications, held a competition to choose a name for the team.[12] This is one of many national team nicknames related to the All Blacks.
As of 6 December 2020, New Zealand have played 1348 international matches, winning 516, losing 608, tying 15 and drawing 166 matches while 44 matches ended as no result. The team is ranked 1st in Tests, 3rd in ODIs and 6th in T20Is by the ICC.[13] New Zealand have reached two World Cup finals, in 2015 and 2019. They defeated South Africa in the semi final of the 2015 World Cup, which was their first win in the a world cup semi final, but they ultimately lost to Trans-Tasman rivals Australia.[14] In the next World Cup in 2019, New Zealand again reached the final which they lost to the hosts England on boundary count after the match and the subsequent Super Over both ended as ties.[15][16][17][18]
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 HMSBeagle called into the Bay of Islands on its epic circumnavigation of the Earth and 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:[19]
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 6 teams, Australia 15 and one from Fiji.
On 15–17 February 1894 the first team representing New Zealand played 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 (not Tests) 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 history.
In 1927 NZ toured England. They played 26 first-class matches, mostly against county sides. They won seven matches, including those against Worcestershire, Glamorgan, Somerset and Derbyshire. On the strength of the performances of this tour New Zealand was granted Test status.
In 1929/30 the M.C.C toured NZ and played 4 Tests all of 3 days in duration. New Zealand lost its first Test match but drew the next 3. 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 1931–32 in a three match series but were unable to secure Test matches against any teams other than England before World War II ended all Test cricket for 7 years. A Test tour by Australia, planned for February and March 1940, was cancelled after the outbreak of the war.[20][21][22]
New Zealand's first Test after the war was against Australia in 1945/46. 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. The New Zealand Cricket Council's unwillingness to pay Australian players a decent allowance to tour New Zealand ensured that this was the only Test Australia played against New Zealand between 1929 and 1972.
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, 3-day Test matches ensured that all 4 Tests were drawn. Many have regarded the 1949 tour of England among New Zealand's best ever touring performances. All four tests were high-scoring despite being draws and Martin Donnelly's 206 at Lord's hailed as one of the finest innings ever seen there.[23] Despite being winless, New Zealand did not lose a test either. Prior to this, only the legendary 1948 Australian team, led by the great Don Bradman, had achieved this.
New Zealand played its first matches against the West Indies in 1951–52, and Pakistan and India in 1955/56.
In 1954/55 New Zealand recorded the lowest ever innings total, 26 against England. The following season New Zealand achieved its first Test victory. The first 3 Tests of a 4 Test series were won easily 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 to attain.
In the next 20 years New Zealand won only seven more Tests. For most of this period New Zealand lacked a class bowler to lead their attack although they had two excellent batsmen in Bert Sutcliffe and Glenn Turner and a great all-rounder in John R. Reid.
Reid captained New Zealand on a tour to South Africa in 1961–62 where the five test series was drawn 2–2. The victories in the third and fifth tests were the first overseas victories New Zealand achieved. Reid scored 1,915 runs in the tour, setting a record for the most runs scored by a touring batsman of South Africa as a result.[24]
New Zealand won their first test series in their three match 1969/70 tour of Pakistan 1–0.[25]
Scoreboard - Basin ReserveFebruary 1978. NZ's first win over England
In 1973 Richard Hadlee debuted and the rate at which New Zealand won Tests picked up dramatically. Hadlee was one of the best pace bowlers of his generation, playing 86 Tests for New Zealand, before he retired in 1990. Of the 86 Tests that Hadlee played in New Zealand 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.
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 versus Australia, 1985 at Brisbane. In Australia's first innings Hadlee took 9–52. In New Zealand's only turn at bat, 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 better sides in world cricket. In one-day cricket a batsman does not need to score centuries to win games for his side and bowlers do not 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 well. These were requirements New Zealand players could consistently meet and thus developed a good one-day record against all sides.
Perhaps New Zealand's most infamous one-day match was the "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 New Zealand batsman Brian McKechnie from hitting a six. The Australian umpires ruled the move as legal even though to this day many believe it was one of the most unsporting decisions made in cricket.
When New Zealand next played in the tri-series in Australia in 1983, Lance Cairns became a cult hero for his one-day batting. In one match against Australia, he hit six sixes at the MCG, one of the world's largest grounds. Few fans remember that New Zealand lost this game by 149 runs. However, Lance's greatest contribution to New Zealand cricket was his son Chris Cairns.
Chris Cairns made his debut one year before Hadlee retired in 1990. Cairns, one of New Zealand's best all-rounders, led the 1990s bowling attack with Danny Morrison. Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's most prolific scorer, led the batting and the team into the 21st century. Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan also scored plenty of runs for New Zealand, but both retired earlier than expected.
Daniel Vettori made his debut as an 18-year-old in 1997, and when he took over from Fleming as captain in 2007 he was regarded as the best spinning all-rounder 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 continued to represent New Zealand in Test cricket and returned for the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
On 4 April 1996, New Zealand achieved a unique world record, where the whole team was adjudged Man of the Match for team performance against 4 run victory over the West Indies. This is recorded as the only time where whole team achieved such an award.[26][27][28]
New Zealand started the new millennium by winning the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy in Kenya to claim their first ICC tournament. They started with a 64-run win over Zimbabwe then proceeded to beat Pakistan by 4 wickets in the semi-final. In the final against India, Chris Cairns scored an unbeaten 102 in New Zealand's run chase helping them win the tournament.
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 NZ bowling attack that had been missing since Hadlee retired.
The New Zealand team celebrating a dismissal in 2009
The rise of the financial power of the BCCI had an immense effect on NZ 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. NZ 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. After the demise of the Indian Cricket League Bond and Tuffey again played for New Zealand.
Vettori stood down as Test captain in 2011 leading to star batsman Ross Taylor to take his place. Taylor led New Zealand for a year which included a thrilling win in a low scoring Test match against Australia in Hobart, their first win over Australia since 1993. In 2012/13 Brendon McCullum became captain and new players such as Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult and Jimmy Neesham emerged as world-class performers. McCullum captained New Zealand to series wins against the West Indies and India in 2013/14 and both Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 2014/15 increasing New Zealand's rankings in both Test and ODI formats. In the series against India McCullum scored 302 at Wellington to become New Zealand's first Test triple centurion.
In early 2015 New Zealand made the final of the Cricket World Cup, going through the tournament undefeated until the final, where they lost to Australia by seven wickets.[29]
In mid-2015 New Zealand toured England,[31] performing well, drawing the Test series 1–1, and losing the One Day series, 2–3.
From October to November 2015, and in February 2016, New Zealand played Australia in two Test Series, in three and two games a piece
With a changing of an era in the Australian team, New Zealand was rated as a chance of winning especially in New Zealand. New Zealand lost both series by 2-Nil[32]
New Zealand's kit is manufactured by Canterbury of New Zealand, who replaced previous manufacturer WStar in 2009. When playing Test cricket, New Zealand's cricket whites feature logo of the sponsors Gillette on the left of the shirt, the ANZ logo on the left sleeve and on the middle of the shirt and the Canterbury logo on the right sleeve. New Zealand fielders may wear a black cap (in the style of a baseball cap rather than the baggy cap worn by some teams) or a white sun hat with the New Zealand Cricket logo in the middle. Helmets are also coloured black (although until 1996, they used to be white with the silver fern logo encased in a black circle).
In limited overs cricket, New Zealand's ODI and Twenty20 shirts feature the ANZ logo across the centre, with the silver fern badge on the left of the shirt, Canterbury logo on the right sleeve and the Ford logo on the right. In ODIs, the kit comprises a black shirt with blue accents and black trousers, whilst the Twenty20 kit comprises a beige shirt with black accents and black trousers. In ICC limited-overs tournaments, a modified kit design is used with sponsor's logos moving to the sleeve and 'NEW ZEALAND' printed across the front.
In ODI, New Zealand wore Beige and brown between 1980 World Series Cricket and 1988 World Series Cricket. The 1983–1984 version was made popular by the Black Caps supporter group Beige Brigade, who sells the version of this uniform to the general public together with a "moral contract" which explains the expectations that come with being a Beige Brigadier. and was also worn in the inaugural Twenty20 international between New Zealand and Australia. Between 1991 and 1997 grey or silver (with some splashes of black or white) was worn instead. Until 2000, the ODI uniform was teal with black accents.
Previous suppliers were Adidas (World Series Cricket 1980–1990), ISC (World Cup World Cup 1992 and 1996, World Series 1993–97) Canterbury (1998–1999), Asics (who supplied all the 1999 Cricket World Cup participating teams) and WStar (2000–2009).
In April 2018, the ICC announced that the tournament was scrapped, keeping in line their goal of having only one pinnacle tournament for each of the three formats in international cricket.
Richard Hadlee, one of New Zealand and the world's best all-rounders, took the world record for most Test wickets (374) vs India at Bangalore in 1988. Hadlee was the first bowler to reach 400 Test wickets, vs India at Christchurch in 1990, and finished his career with 431 wickets. He subsequently lost the record to Kapil Dev.
The black caps would be known for their world record of having the most semi final appearances of any country but The Black Caps have yet to claim the trophy.
Corey Anderson holds record for the second fastest century in One Day Internationals (or any other format of international cricket). Playing against West Indies, he scored his ton in just 36 balls. Corey Anderson lost the record to AB de Villiers when AB scored a century in just 31 balls against West Indies.
In a One Day International in 1996, the entire New Zealand team were awarded man of the match against the West Indies, the first such occasion.
Brendon McCullum holds the world record for the most sixes in Test cricket with 107.[42] He passed Adam Gilchrist's record of 100[42] in his final Test match. This record was also previously held by Chris Cairns.[42]
Brendon McCullum was the first batsman to score two centuries in Twenty20 International Cricket (116* v. Australia and 123 v. Bangladesh).
Brendon McCullum held the record for the highest individual score in Twenty20 International cricket, when he scored 123 v. Bangladesh at Pallekele. He lost the record to Aaron Finch who scored 156* against England at Southampton.[43]
Guptill holds the record for most career runs (2,271) and most sixes (103, equal with Chris Gayle) in Twenty20 Internationals, both records previously held by Brendon McCullum.[44]
Daniel Vettori was the first cricketer to take four wickets and score a half-century in each innings of a Test match, a feat he achieved against Bangladesh in October 2008 at Chittagong. His figures were 5/95 and 4/74 with the ball and 55* and 76 with the bat.[45]
Colin Munro is the first player in to score three Twenty20 International hundreds. This was accomplished on 3 January 2018 against the West Indies when he scored 104 off 88 balls, with 3 fours and 10 sixes.
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 at Manchester in 1952) to be dismissed twice in the same day. The whole Test was completed inside two days.[47] This feat was then repeated at Napier in 2012 when NZ dismissed Zimbabwe for 51 and 143 to end the match within three days.[48]
Kane Williamson holds the record for most centuries by a New Zealander in Tests, with 24.
Brendon McCullum holds the record for the highest Test innings by a New Zealander of 302 (vs India in 2014). He is currently the only triple centurion from New Zealand.
Brendon McCullum holds the New Zealand Test record for the most innings of 200 or more, with 4.
Brendon McCullum scored the fastest World Cup fifty (off 18 balls) for New Zealand in a Pool A Match of 2015 Cricket World Cup against England, beating his own 20-ball record set against Canada in World Cup (2007) earlier.
Martin Guptill holds the record for the highest One Day International innings by a New Zealander, with 237 not out against West Indies in the 2015 World Cup Quarter-final in Wellington.[49]
Shane Bond took an ODI hat-trick in the last over (innings bowling figures: 10–0–61–4) vs Australia at Hobart in January 2007.[50]
Stephen Paul Fleming is a New Zealand cricket coach and former cricketer, and captain of the New Zealand national cricket team in all three formats of the game and is the head coach of Chennai Super Kings.
Christopher Lance Cairns is a former New Zealand cricketer and former ODI captain, who played for the New Zealand cricket team as an all-rounder. Cairns finished his Test career with a batting average of 33.53 and a bowling average of 29.40. In 2000, he was named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
Christopher Henry Gayle, OD is a Jamaican cricketer who played international cricket for the West Indies. Gayle captained the West Indies Test side from 2007 to 2010. Regarded as one of the best batsmen of all time, Gayle has set numerous records across all three formats of the game. He is the most capped player for the West Indies in international cricket and is the only player to score a triplet of centuries – a triple hundred in Tests, double hundred in ODIs and a hundred in T20Is. Gayle is the first ever batsman to hit 1000 sixes in T20 cricket.
The Chappell–Hadlee Trophy in cricket is a One Day International cricket series between Australia and New Zealand. It is named after legendary cricketing families from the two countries: the Chappell brothers of Australia, and Walter Hadlee and his three sons of New Zealand.
Brendon Barrie McCullum is a New Zealand cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer, who played all formats, and also a former captain in all forms. McCullum took quick scoring to Test matches as well, notably recording the fastest test century of all time. He is considered as one of the most successful batsmen and captains of New Zealand cricket. He retired from all forms of cricket in August 2019.
Adam Charles Voges is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the Australian national team at Test, One Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20I) level, and also captained Western Australia and Perth Scorchers in domestic cricket. Voges' test match batting average of 61.87 is second behind Don Bradman among batsmen who have finished their career and played a minimum of 20 innings. Voges was included in the 2016 ICC Test Match Team of the Year.
Colin Munro is a South-African born New Zealand international cricketer, who plays limited overs formats of the game. He was a member of the New Zealand Under 19 side and is currently a member of the Auckland cricket team. He is the first player to score three Twenty20 International centuries.
Timothy Grant Southee, is a New Zealand international cricketer who plays all forms of the game. He is a right-arm fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting lower order batsman. The third New Zealand bowler to take 300 test wickets,he is also the current vice-captain of the international team. He was one of New Zealand's youngest cricketers, debuting at the age of 19 in February 2008. On his Test debut against England he took 5 wickets and made 77 off 40 balls in the second innings. He plays for Northern Districts in the Plunket Shield, Ford Trophy and Super Smash as well as Northland in the Hawke Cup. He was named as New Zealand's captain for the first T20I against West Indies in place of Kane Williamson, who was rested for that game. The Blackcaps won that match by 47 runs.
Nathan Leslie McCullum is a former New Zealand international cricketer, who represented the New Zealand cricket team in One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals.
Luke Ronchi is a New Zealand-Australian cricket coach and cricketer. He represented both the Australia national cricket team and New Zealand national cricket team in international cricket. Ronchi is the only player to have played for both Australia and New Zealand in cricketing history and was part of the New Zealand World Cup side that finished runners-up in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, after their defeat in the final to Australia. He plays for Wellington in New Zealand domestic matches and has played Twenty20 matches for a range of sides.
Kane Stuart Williamson is a New Zealand international cricketer who is currently the captain of the New Zealand national team in all formats. He is a right-handed batsman and an occasional off spin bowler. Williamson is consistently rated as one of the top-ranked Test and ODI batsmen in the world, according to the ICC Player Rankings. On 31 December 2020, he reached a Test batting rating of 890, surpassing Steve Smith and Virat Kohli as the number one ranked Test batsmen in the world. Williamson was the only New Zealander to be named in the ICC Test Team of the Decade (2011–2020). The late former New Zealand cricketer, Martin Crowe, noted that, "we're seeing the dawn of probably our greatest ever batsman" in Williamson.
Trent Alexander Boult is a New Zealand international cricketer who plays as a bowler for Northern Districts in New Zealand's domestic cricket, and New Zealand internationally.
Thomas William Maxwell Latham, known as Tom Latham, is a New Zealand cricketer, who represents New Zealand in both Test and One Day International (ODI) formats, he is also the vice-captain of the side in both formats. In January 2020, Latham captained the New Zealand Test side for the first time.
Jason Omar Holder is a Barbadian cricketer and the current Test match captain of the West Indies cricket team and former ODI captain. Holder made his One Day International (ODI) debut in January 2013 and Test debut in June 2014. In June 2019, Holder played in his 100th ODI match for the West Indies, during the 2019 Cricket World Cup. In January 2019, he was ranked as the number one all rounder in the world according to the official ICC Test rankings. In August 2019, Cricket West Indies named him as the Test Player of the Year.
The India cricket team toured New Zealand, playing a five-match One Day International (ODI) series and two Test matches against the New Zealand national team from 19 January to 18 February 2014.
The Sri Lankan national cricket team toured New Zealand from 26 December 2014 to 29 January 2015 for a tour consisting of two Test matches and seven One Day Internationals. New Zealand won the Test series 2–0 and the ODI series 4–2.
Pool A of the 2015 Cricket World Cup took place from 14 February to 14 March 2015. The group consisted of co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, and along with them, England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Scotland. This phase of the tournament was played as a full round-robin between all seven teams, with the top four teams, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, advancing to the quarter-finals.
The Scotland national cricket team represents Scotland in the game of cricket. In 1992 Scotland severed their ties with the TCCB, and England, and gained associate membership of the ICC in their own right in 1994. They competed in the ICC Trophy for the first time in 1997, finishing third and qualifying for the 1999 World Cup, where they lost all their games. They also qualified for the 2007 and 2015 World Cups.
The Australian cricket team toured New Zealand from 3 to 24 February 2016. Originally the tour was going to consist of three Test matches. In June 2015, New Zealand Cricket were in talks with Cricket Australia to have a tour consisting of two Tests and three One Day Internationals (ODIs). In August 2015, the fixtures were announced which contained the reduction of Tests from three to two and the addition of the three ODIs.
↑ "Outstanding Achievements". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 23 April 2009. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
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England at Lancaster Park, Christchurch; 10–13 January 1930
Pakistan at Hagley Oval, Christchurch; 3–6 January 2021
Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney; 13 March 2020
