| Tour of West Indies 1971-72 Captain : Graham Dowling | |
| | | | |
| Tenth New Zealand
Test tour. (January
- May 1972) First Test-playing tour of West
Indies by New Zealand
(no previous tour) | The South African tour of New Zealand in 1971-72 was called off but the
New Zealanders were not without Test cricket as they made their first-ever
tour of the West Indies. Although the record books might portray it
as a futile series, the five drawn Test matches contained much of interest. While
their approach rarely produced attacking cricket, the tourists would have won
the third Test match but for a couple of dropped chances. The New Zealanders seemed
mostly to be striving to match large first-innings totals and could not score
fast enough on the lifeless wickets. They also suffered the considerable
disadvantage of losing the toss on all five occasions. Individual strengths lay in the
patient, dependable batting of Turner and Congdon, and the fast-medium
bowling of Taylor who found he was able to extract life from the docile
pitches. But all the members of the
team showed fighting spirit and determination - for instance, in the efforts
made to improve their fielding - and gave their full support to Dowling and,
when he had to return home injured, his successor Congdon. | All New Zealand
tours Previous tour Pakistan 1969 Next tour England 1973 Next tour of West Indies 1984-85 | |
| Members of the Test
tour party (15 + 1) Opening batsmen Glenn Turner Graham Dowling, Terry Jarvis Middle-order batsmen: Mark Burgess, Bev
Congdon, Brian Hastings, Graham Vivian, [+ Ross Morgan (reinforcement)] Wicket-keepers:Ken
Wadsworth, Keith Campbell Spin bowlers:Hedley
Howarth, Jack Alabaster. Fast bowlers: Dick Collinge, Dick Cunis,
Bruce Taylor, Murray Webb. | J C Alabaster | O | 41 | LBG | | M G Burgess | A | 27 | RHB | | K O Campbell | O | 28 | RHB second WK | | R O Collinge | W | 26 | LFM | | B E
Congdon | W | 34 | RHB RM
vice-captain | | R S
Cunis | A | 31 | RFM | | G T Dowling | C | 34 | RHB opener
captain | | B F Hastings | C | 31 | RHB | | H J Howarth | A | 28 | SLA | | T W
Jarvis | A | 27 | RHB opener | | B R Taylor | W | 28 | LHB RFM | | G M Turner | O | 24 | RHB opener
deputy captain | | G E Vivian | A | 25 | LHB LB | | K J Wadsworth | CD | 25 | WK | | M G Webb | O | 24 | RF | | |
|
Provincial
representation (Plunket Shield teams) A - Auckland (5) C - Canterbury (2) CD - Central Districts (1) ND - Northern Districts (0) O - Otago (4) W - Wellington(3) Average age of team at time of first Test match (16 February 1972) : 29 years 5 months. | |
| Test Appearances
made before the tour | Dowling 37, Congdon
31, Taylor 20, Alabaster 19, Morgan 17,
Burgess 15, Collinge 15, Cunis 15,
Hastings 11, Howarth 11, Turner 11,
Wadsworth 11, Jarvis 6, Vivian 1,
Webb 1, Campbell 0. | | |
| Tour Officials | | | |
| Selectors | Ken Deas (convenor), Frank
Cameron and Frank Mooney. | | |
| Selection | Simultaneously,
the selectors chose another team to play in a knock-out tournament in Australia. Unavailable
: Bryan Andrews ; Dayle Hadlee
(back) ; Dick Motz (retired because of
a back injury) ; Vic Pollard (objected to playing on Sundays). Tour Party Announced : 16 January 1972 The
Board voted for a vice-captain to Dowling and narrowly chose Congdon over
Turner. Dick Collinge was selected
subject to a fitness test on his knee. Not selected:
Simultaneously, the
selectors chose another team to play in a knock-out tournament in Australia: R W Morgan (captain), M L Ryan
(vice-captain and wk), B Andrews, R W Anderson, B Dunning, W A Greenstrcet, B G Hadlee, R J Hadlee, G A
Newdick, R E Redmond, M J F Shrimpton, D G Trist. | Time
between selection and departure from New Zealand 14 days (16
January to 30 January) | |
| Travel Auckland Q Kingston | On 18 January Bob Cunis returned home from Australia
where he had been playing for the Rest of the World XI. The team assembled at Christchurch
and made their way from there on 27 January to Auckland. Flying out on the night of 30
January, the team arrived in Kingston,
Jamaica, the
next day. | Time
spent in West Indies 87 days (31
January - 27 April) | |
| On-tour selection
panel | Graham Dowling (later Murray
Chapple took his place), Bevan Congdon, Glenn Turner. | | |
| Reinforcements | Ross
Morgan was brought in for Dick Collinge whose infant daughter died. When Graham Dowling who was in hospital in Trinidad
with a severe back injury was forced to return home, Congdon became captain
and Turner vice-captain. Manager
Murray Chapple became the 3rd selector. Murray Chapple played in one match, as did Russell Vogtherr (the
Assistant Trade Commissioner in Trinidad). | | |
| Fixtures/Results | a | ϯ Mona, Kingston | West Indian Universities
(40 overs) | Won 104 r | b | Kingston (Sabina
Park) | Jamaica | Drawn | c | Montego Bay | President of WICB XI | Drawn | d | KINGSTON(Sabina
Park) | WEST INDIES First Test | DRAWN | e | St John’s, Antigua | Leeward Islands | Drawn | f | ϯ Scarborough | Tobago (2-day) | Won inns 40 r | g | Pointe-a-Pierre | Trinidad | Drawn | h | PORT OF SPAIN | WEST INDIES Second Test | DRAWN | i | Bridgetown | Barbados | Drawn | j | BRIDGETOWN | WEST INDIES Third Test | DRAWN | k | Georgetown | Guyana | Drawn | l | GEORGETOWN | WEST INDIES Fourth Test | DRAWN | m | Kingstown, St Vincent | Windward Islands | Drawn | n | ϯ Kingstown,
St Vincent | Windward Islands (45 overs) | Won 6 w | o | PORT OF SPAIN | WEST INDIES Fifth Test | DRAWN | p | Hamilton | Bermuda | Won inns 31 r |
| † not first-class Time spent in West Indies before First Test: 16
days (31 January- 16 February) | |
| Test appearances on
tour | 5 - Burgess, Congdon,
Cunis, Hastings, Howarth,
Turner, Wadsworth 4 - Jarvis, Taylor,
Vivian. 3 - Morgan 2 - Alabaster, Dowling 1 - Webb 0 - Campbell,
Collinge. | | |
| Match
appearances T Test match x other match ∙ played for opposition W won L lost D drawn N no
result A abandoned u unknown
result | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | J C Alabaster | | x | | T | x | x | x | T | x | | x | | | | | x | M G Burgess | x | x | x | T | | x | x | T | x | T | | T | | | T | x | K O Campbell | x | | | | x | x | x | | x | | x | | x | x | | x | R O Collinge | | x | x | | x | | | | | | | | | | | | B E
Congdon | x | x | x | T | x | | x | T | | T | x | T | x | x | T | x | R S
Cunis | x | x | | T | | x | x | T | x | T | | T | x | x | T | | G T Dowling | x | x | x | T | | x | | T | | | | | | | | | B F Hastings | | x | x | T | x | x | x | T | x | T | x | T | x | x | T | x | H J Howarth | x | x | x | T | | x | x | T | | T | | T | x | x | T | x | T W
Jarvis | x | x | x | T | x | x | | | x | T | x | T | x | x | T | x | R W Morgan | | | | | | | | | x | T | x | T | x | x | T | | B R Taylor | x | | x | | x | x | x | T | x | T | x | T | | | T | x | G M Turner | x | x | x | T | x | | x | T | x | T | x | T | | | T | x | G E Vivian | x | | | | x | x | x | T | x | T | x | T | x | x | T | | K J Wadsworth | | x | x | T | x | | x | T | | T | x | T | x | x | T | x | M G Webb | x | | x | T | x | x | | | x | | x | | x | x | | x | M E
Chapple | | | | | | | | | | | | | x | | | | R Vogtherr | | | | | | | | | | | | | | x | | | R E S U L T
S | W | D | D | D | D | W | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | W | D | W |
| New Zealand’s six previous Test tour results: in India
& Pakistan
1969-70 (6 Tests) - drew 1-1 and won 1-0 in England
1969 (3 Tests) - lost 0-2 in England
1965 (3 Tests) - lost 0-3 in India
& Pakistan
1964-65 (7 Tests) - lost 0-1, lost 0-2 in South Africa 1961-62 (5 Tests) - drew 2-2 in England
1958 (5 Tests) - lost 0-4 | |
| Highlights | • Glenn Turner scored 202 against the
President’s XI and then 223*, carrying his bat, in the first Test. • Congdon nearly equalled Turner’s feat with
a century against Trinidad, then 166* in the
2nd Test • Mark Burgess’s century in the second
innings at Kingston saved the match for New Zealand • In the third Test Bruce Taylor took 7-74,
his best bowling in Tests, dismissing West Indies
for 133. • In Georgetown Glenn Turner hit 259 against Guyana,
and then 259 again in the fourth Test. • With Terry Jarvis (182) Turner shared a
record opening partnership of 387. | | |
| ⋆Tour Summary | | F | W | L | D | Aban | Test Matches | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | - | Other first-class matches | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | - | ϯ Minor matches | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | All Matches | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | - | | | | | | |
| F Fixtures W Won
L Lost
T Tied
D Drawn
Canc Cancelled Aban abandoned | |
| Return to New Zealand Port of SpainQ Kingston Q Bermuda New YorkQ Auckland | The final Test was allocated one extra day, so the team's
departure from Trinidad was delayed until 27 April when the team flew from Port of Spain, by way of Kingston,
to Hamilton, Bermuda, and straight to the
Sherwoods Hotel at Pembroke, while the manager Murray Chapple remained in Kingston. Glenn Turner returned to England to play county cricket. The
other New Zealanders left for New York on 1
May and from London arrived back at Mangere Airport,
Auckland, on Wednesday 3 May, then flying on
to Christchurch. | Time
away from New Zealand 94
days (30
January to 3 May) | |
| Finances | Profit £9000. | | |
| Written accounts of
the tour | "Caribbean Crusade" D J
Cameron (Hodder & Stoughton 1972) "Gone
With the Kiwis" Brunel Jones (Trinidad, 1972) |
| |
| Postscript | | | |
| Other Test tours in
1971-72 | South Africans to Australia
1971-72 cancelled replaced
by Rest of the World XI in Australia | | |