NEW ZEALAND v WEST INDIES 1951-52

At Auckland, February 15, 16, 18, 19. Drawn. Believing that the pitch, covered throughout the match, would be lively at the start, Sutcliffe decided to field, but the turf played entirely in favour of batsmen and West Indies seized their opportunity. An opening stand of 197 put them on the road to the huge total in which Stollmeyer, Worrell and Walcott completed centuries and Rae made 99. Stollmeyer's on-side strength brought him the majority of his runs, Worrell drove with grace and freedom, and Walcott hit powerfully off his back foot.

New Zealand showed the reaction of facing such a score after fielding for nine hours. By the end of the second day lost four wickets for 76, and next day only a defiant innings of over four hours by Scott avoided a rout. Soon after Emery fell to a superb catch at forward short-leg in the follow-on, bad light brought play to a close, and heavy rain prevented cricket on the last day.

An incident which caused discussion occurred on the first day when Rae was nine. In turning to reach his crease after backing-up, Rae slipped and fell, but the bowler Moir, to whom the ball had been returned, refrained from breaking the wicket and Rae regained his ground. In some quarters Moir was criticised for his failure to remove the bails, but most people preferred to praise his sportsmanship.