Friendliness was his signature

New Zealand cricket legend Bert Sutcliffe left his impression on all who met him and it is his friendliness which his contemporaries will most remember about him.

Sutcliffe, 77, died in Auckland this morning after a long illness of emphysema with a more recent diagnosis of cancer.

He was one of the greatest batsmen produced in New Zealand and former team-mate John Reid recalled their relationship this morning.

"Bert was a lifelong friend. I started playing first-class cricket in 1947 and played with and against him for nearly the next 20 years.

"We had some traumatic partnerships. In 1953/54 at Ellis Park in South Africa he got pinned by South African fast bowler Neil Adcock and was taken to hospital. I went out to bat and had to stand in a pool of his blood.

"Then, on our first tour to Pakistan and India in 1955/56, we shared an unbroken stand of 222 and New Zealand finished the day 420/2. I scored a century and Bert scored a New Zealand record of 230. But he paid for it as it took a lot out of him. I had a bit more to come and go on.

"When we finished the tour Bert looked like a skeleton. We came home and started a series against the West Indies but Bert had to drop out after two Tests as he wasn't fit enough to play as a result of the Indian tour.

"As a result he missed being part of our first Test victory, after 26 years of trying, when we beat the West Indies in the fourth Test. He never played in a winning Test side.

"He retired after the 1958 tour, but we picked him again in 1965 to go back to India and Pakistan then on to England. We picked him to deal with their [India's] spin bowlers and he scored another 150 in one of the Tests," Reid said.

The 1949 side has always been a close unit and has had several reunions. The last time the side was together was during the Eden Park Test against Pakistan last month and Reid spoke with Sutcliffe by telephone only a few days ago.

"Bert was a dominating batsman, but graceful with it. He wasn't a clumper like me. He was the best left-hander in the world, and that includes Neil Harvey, I've seen them all.

"He was an entirely different batsman to Martin Donnelly who was more of a clumper. Bert was a classical left-hander and was the best around at the time," he said.

Reid recalled that he and Sutcliffe often had long talks about the state of the game and all its problems but throughout it all Sutcliffe never had a bad word to say about anybody.

"We were very close mates," Reid said.

Sutcliffe's captain from his earliest international days was Walter Hadlee and today Hadlee described Sutcliffe's batting in one word - cultured.

"He was light on his feet, swift of mind and played flowing shots, hitting through the line of the ball. He played punishing drives on either side of the wicket," he said.

Another feature about Sutcliffe that Hadlee remembered was his personality.

"He was bright and cheerful, a happy bloke. He was modest and wonderful company. It was people like him who helped make the 1949 tour the success that it was.

"On the ship going to England he took the physical education before breakfast and then played the piano after dinner for as long as people wanted him to continue. We were all good mates on the tour," Hadlee said.

He wasn't only a batsman and rated his bowling.

"He liked to bowl left-hand twisters as Martin Donnelly liked to call them. They were left-arm chinamen, and he had a wrong 'un as well.

"He was a brilliant field and a safe catcher in the slips, gully or leg slip areas."

Sutcliffe and Donnelly's presence in the 1949 team had been of great worth.

Hadlee recalled that it was he who converted Sutcliffe to the opening role in which he became so effective.

Sutcliffe had just moved to Dunedin to take up training at the school of physical education there and having played for Auckland earlier in the season was not able to play Plunket Shield cricket for Otago. However, he was able to play for Otago against the MCC.

Hadlee said: "He arrived late at the ground and when he arrived I said, 'Bert, you and I will open the innings today.'

"He said, 'I always bat at No 5.' And I said to him, 'Well you can have your pick today, No 1 or No 2.'"

Sutcliffe scored 197 in the first innings and 128 in the second.

"For sheer brilliance the second century was better than the first. We opened together a few weeks later for New Zealand against the MCC," he said.

"He was just so fluent a player and a batsman," Hadlee said.

The chairman of New Zealand Cricket, Sir John Anderson said: "Bert Sutcliffe was a great cricketer, a person of integrity and a true gentleman. He performed remarkable feats with the bat and his courage and talent were never more obvious than during his defiant innings against the South Africans in 1953 at Ellis Park. He continued to take a genuine interest in modern day cricket and was an inspiration to many of the current New Zealand side whom he met on many occasions."

While the occasion of scoring his maiden Test century in Hobart was all a blur for Test batsman Matt Horne in 1996/97, it was typical of Sutcliffe, who was at the ground as the guest of the Australian Cricket Board, that he met Horne at the gate when he was dismissed and shook him by the hand.

Horne didn't remember the incident because of the excitement of the moment. But the president of New Zealand Cricket at the time, Iain Gallaway did as he was with Sutcliffe.

"Bert had spent some time with Matt earlier and had a chat about modern players not batting through, and batting sessions.

"And that was Matt did and Bert was thrilled.

"When he was out for 133, Bert said to me, 'I'd love to shake his hand.'

"So I said, 'Let's go down and do it,' but typically of him Bert said, 'No I wouldn't want to do that, not in the players' area.'

"I said to him, 'He'd be thrilled' but Bert said he wouldn't. So I said to him, 'I'm the president of New Zealand Cricket and you're coming with me.'

"We went down and Bert shook his hand, and they held hands for a long time and Bert got very emotional.

"Matt said to him, 'How the hell did you bat eight or nine hours to get that 385? I've only batted 300 or something [327] minutes and I'm absolutely stuffed.'"

Horne recalled today that he was a bit over-awed by everything that happened. But he said he had a little to do with Sutcliffe after that innings and when he scored his century in New Zealand's 1999 Test at Lord's he received a fax from him.

"At the time it blew me away. He congratulated me on a gutsy effort and said to make sure that we finished it off," Horne said.

New Zealand did and claimed its first victory at Lord's.

"I knew Bert but not that well, there are a lot of people who know him much better. But he was one of the trailblazers and you only have to look at the records to see just how special a player, and man, that he was."