Tour of England 1949                     Captain : Walter Hadlee

Third New Zealand Test tour

( April - October 1949)

Third Test-playing tour of England by New Zealand

   (previous tour 1937)

As on their previous tours, the New Zealanders did not win a Test match (it would not be until 1983 that they won in England).  However, they went undefeated in the four-Test series and on the tour as a whole, apart from losing to Oxford University, and showed that they were strong enough to resist England over three days with no time lost to the weather. Before this, three days were allowed for all Test matches in England except against Australia, but New Zealand would now be granted full five-day Test matches which became the arrangement for their next tour in 1958.

The summer of 1949 was hot and dry for long periods and the pitches became ideal for batting, playing to the strength of the team -  the three star batsmen, Wallace, Donnelly and Sutcliffe.  Hadlee was a shrewd tactician and he needed to develop his side into a strong fielding unit to support the team's bowling attack which was weakened by Hayes's lengthy absence with a groin injury.

After drawing the first two Test matches the New Zealanders were asked to add an extra day to the next two Tests but their programme of county matches prevented this from happening.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour

England 1937

Next tour

South Africa 1953-54

Next tour of England

1958

Members of the Test tour party  (15)

Opening batsmen  Verdun Scott, Bert Sutcliffe

Middle-order batsmen Martin Donnelly, Walter Hadlee, Merv Wallace, John Reid, Brun Smith

Wicket-keeper  Frank Mooney

All-rounder:Geoff Rabone

Spin bowlers Cec Burke, Tom Burtt

Medium-pacer  Fen Cresswell

Fast bowlers Harry Cave, Jack Cowie, John Hayes.

Provincial representation

(Plunket Shield teams)

A - Auckland (6)

C - Canterbury (3)

O - Otago (0)

W - Wellington (5)

Fen Cresswell had played for Marlborough Cricket Association

Average age of  team at time of first Test match   (11 June 1949) :  30 yrs  1 month

Test Appearances made before the tour

Cowie 5,  Hadlee 5,  Wallace 5,  Donnelly 3,  Scott 2,  Burtt 1,  Sutcliffe 1,  Smith 1,  Burke 0,  Cave 0,  Cresswell 0,  Hayes, 0,  Mooney 0,  Rabone 0,  Reid  0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

Walter Hadlee,  Jack Kerr,  Merv Wallace.

Selection

There were trial matches before the tour, culminating in  New Zealand XI  v  Rest of New Zealand at Christchurch on 27 January.

Unavailable  : Tom Pritchard, fast bowler playing for Warwickshire, was not considered.

Tour Party Announced  : 30 January 1949.

Not selected:  Don Taylor (Otago), opening batsman;  Arthur Cresswell (the 1948-49 ‘Bowler of the Year’

Supporters of Arthur Cresswell said they would guarantee his tour expenses but the NZCC rejected this offer

Five players with a good chance of selection did not pass the medical examination (George Mills of Otago; Colin Snedden of Auckland; and three from Canterbury: W M 'Mac' Anderson, Noel  V Burtt and Roy H Scott). 

Mooney took the place of Mills and Rabone replaced Snedden.

The selection of Mooney in preference to George Mills, who was a stevedore, caused a rumpus at the Dunedin Waterside Workers Union which suspected prejudice against one of their members even when the medical reason came to light.

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand

  27 days

(30 January to 26 February)

Travel

WellingtonT  Southampton

The team sailed from Wellington on the 'Dominion Monarch'  on 26 February 1949.  Bert Sutcliffe, a PE instructor, organised keep fit routines onboard the ship.  The team spent six hours ashore at Durban (Soputh Africa) on 17 March before sailing on to Southampton, arriving on 2 April.  They continued their journey by train to Waterloo Station, London.  Martin Donnelly was already in England. 

The team remained in London until 12 April when they left for eleven days of training and practice at Eastbourne.

Time spent in England

   174 days

(2 April - 23 September)

On-tour selection panel

Walter Hadlee,  Merv Wallace,  Martin Donnelly.

28   123 23

Reinforcements

None.  John Hayes could not play after the Northampton game because of a groin strain.  Although the team management had said that another player could be flown out if necessary through injury, no-one was summoned.  The manager Jack Phillips played against Durham. 

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in England before First Test:  70 days

(2 April - 11 June)

Test appearances on tour

4  -   Burtt,  Cave,  Cowie,  Donnelly,  Hadlee,  Rabone,  Scott,  Sutcliffe, Wallace.

3  -   Mooney

2  -   Reid,  Smith

1  -   Cresswell.

0  -   Burke,  Hayes.

Match appearances

T  Test match

o  one-day international

x other match 

⊕ T/20 international

∙  played for opposition

W won  L lost  D drawn  

N no result   A abandoned  

u unknown result

Highlights

•  Scott and Sutcliffe made century opening partnerships in the Tests at Headingley and at The Oval.

•  Brun Smith scored 96 at Headingley.

•  Martin Donnelly's innings of 206 was hailed as one of the finest innings ever seen at Lord's

•  Tom Burtt took 6 -162  in 45 overs at Old Trafford, and Cresswell equalled this feat with six wickets on debut at The Oval.

•  John Reid marked himself out for the future with an innings of 93 in 130 minutes at The Oval.

New Zealand’s previous Test tour results:

in England 1937 (3 Tests)

 - lost 0-1

in England 1931 (3 Tests)

 -  lost 0-1

Tour Summary

Return to New Zealand

t

London   T   Wellington

           ‘Rangitata’

The New Zealanders took the evening train from Scarborough to London after their last match, and caught the night boat from Harwich to The Hook of Holland on x  September.  Next day they began their European tour, travelling by train via Munster and Hamm to Bad Oeynhausen, arriving late that evening. They went sightseeing to Hanover and Celle and saw the palace of George I.  A match against Combined Services took place on 13 and 14 September, followed by a night train journey to Berlin. 

Returning via the Mohne Dam, Dusseldorf and Cologne, the tourists next visited Paris. However, because of the devaluation of sterling, they found they were unable to pay their hotel bill without the help of the New Zealand Legation. Their visit coincided with a New Zealand wreath-laying ceremony which they attanded at the Arc de Triomphe.  They left Paris by the night boat train and got back to England on 19 September.  Arthur Sims, journalist Charles Bray and Flt-Lt A J Holmes had accompanied the team but Mooney did not.

Martin Donnelly, who was employed by Courtaulds, remained in England when the touring party sailed from London for home on the 'Rangitata'  on 23 September. When the ship berthed at King's Wharf, Wellington, on 25 October, Jack Hayes was kept in isolation with influenza. The whole tour had taken exactly eight months.

Time away from New Zealand    241 days  

(26 February to 25 October)

Finances

Profit  £16 800 (the first New Zealand touring team to make a profit).

Written accounts of the tour

"Halo for Hadlee"   by  George A Wycherley  (Otago Times, Dunedin, 1960)

"Gone with the Cricketers"    by John Arlott  (Longmans, Green & Co, 1950)

"Cricket Companions"  (1950)  by Alan W Mitchell    (pub T Werner Laurie, 1950)

The tour was also described in:

“Merv Wallace - A Cricket Master”   by  Joseph Romanos  (Joel Publishing, 2000)

“The Mantis and the Cricket”    Jeremy Coney  (Sky TV series 2001).

Postscript

Other Test tours in 1949

After holding England to a draw in the four Test matches on this tour, the New Zealanders had made a case for their itinerary in 1958 to include Test matches scheduled for five days instead of three  - but that side was no match for a very strong England bowling attack (Trueman, Statham, Lock, Laker, Bailey and so on).

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