Chappells and Hadlees honoured with new trophy

A new annual one-day series, known as the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, between Australia and New Zealand will start later this year, it was announced today.

The trophy will be part of New Zealand's tour of Australia in December, the details of which were unveiled today. New Zealand will play two Tests, as well as the three one-dayers in the new competition.

Both boards held simultaneous press conferences to announce the news, with Walter and Dayle Hadlee at Christchurch, and Greg and Trevor Chappell at Melbourne. Martin Snedden, New Zealand's chief executive, was also at Christchurch, and he said the trophy had been named after the two families in recognition of their contributions to the game.

Walter Hadlee played 11 Tests for New Zealand between 1937 and 1951, and captained them eight times. His sons, Dayle and Richard, then played 112 Tests between them and were both members of the first side to beat Australia, at Lancaster Park, in 1973-74. Richard, one of the finest players in their history, took 431 Test wickets as well as over 3000 runs, and proved to be a thorn in Australia's side.

The Chappells, Ian, Greg and Trevor, played for Australia at different points between the 60s, 70s and 80s, with Ian Chappell leading the side in 30 Test matches, and Greg taking charge 48 times.

"There is a very close bond between the nations of Australia and New Zealand," Snedden said. "That bond has materialised in the creation of trans-Tasman rivalries in all of our major sports. In both rugby and netball the battles between our national teams and Australia are legendary. Cricket has provided some extraordinary colour to that rivalry including the infamous underarm match at the MCG in February 1981, and other great on-field contests in both Tests and ODIs."

He continued, "I am confident that the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy will become as eagerly anticipated as other great annual sporting events such as the Bledisloe Cup series."

Snedden added that regular matches against the Australians would help to improve the standard of New Zealand cricket. "Our goal is for the Black Caps to dominate international cricket and a playing programme which sees the Black Caps play against Australia on an annual basis will help us to reach that goal," he said. "The current Black Cap team has played good quality international cricket in recent years and currently has an experienced and talented squad of players.

"However, like a number of other international competitors, its performances and, accordingly, its results, have not yet been sufficiently consistent to enable it to break from the pack and to close the gap on Australia."

Schedule
Nov 10-13 New South Wales v New Zealanders, Sydney
Nov 18-22 Australia v New Zealand, first Test, Brisbane
Nov 26-30 Australia v New Zealand, second Test, Adelaide

Chappell-Hadlee Trophy 2004:
Dec 5 Australia v New Zealand D/N, Melbourne
Dec 8 Australia v New Zealand D/N, Sydney
Dec 10 Australia v New Zealand D/N, Brisbane