New Zealand Team relives terrific, taxing tour of '49 (23 December 1998)

23 December 1998

New Zealand Team relives terrific, taxing tour of '49

The Christchurch Press

John Coffey catches up with some of the members of one of our most enduring sports teams.

Walter Hadlee's 1949 New Zealand cricket team did not spend the night sipping champagne and indulging in post-match back slapping after proving competitive in the drawn first test against England at Leeds.

In a situation which would horrify modern players, the New Zealanders "overnighted" in a railway sleeping compartment on a siding somewhere near London.

Champion batsman Bert Sutcliffe recalled the test ended on the evening of June 14 and the next match, against Hampshire at Southampton, started on the next morning, hundreds of kilometres to the south.

"The test went the full distance and the next thing we're jumping into sleepers and off down to London. They dropped our sleeping car and left us there. Another train came along later, picked us up, and took us to Southampton where we managed to start only an hour late."

Captain Hadlee, vice-captain Merv Wallace, the other 13 players, and manager Jack Phillipps took such inconveniences in their stride during an eight-month odyssey which included two long sea voyages and 41/2 months of almost constant cricket.

The 49ers played 32 first-class fixtures, winning 13, drawing 18, and losing only to Oxford University when having to bat twice on a devious, drying pitch, which had been flooded after the home side completed its first innings.

All four tests were drawn, ramming home to the English authorities the message that the tourists had deserved more than three-day durations. New Zealand fans at home sat through the night listening to crackling radio broadcasts as Hadlee's heroes set new standards for the sport in this country.

Hadlee was recently joined by team-mates Sutcliffe, John Hayes, Martin Donnelly, and Geoff Rabone for a reunion in Christchurch. Remaining survivors John Reid, Frank Mooney, and Merv Wallace will also attend an official 50th anniversary gathering at Wellington in March.

"I think I could tell you something about every match. There are very vivid memories, not only to me but most of us. When we are together we are as one," said Hadlee.

The 49ers toured while England was still recovering from World War 2, and rationing was in force. Times were hard.

"On one occasion I had enjoyed what was termed a piece of rabbit. Then Martin Donnelly told me I had just eaten a cat. The 'steaks' were horse meat. The New Zealand government was sending food parcels and we took part in the presentations of some of them," Hadlee said.

Sutcliffe, 74, remembers "you couldn't buy a steak for love nor money, even eggs were hard to get. We ate millions of kippers, and spinach was the main green. But there was enough, nobody went hungry.

"My mother-in-law had made me a fruit cake to take with me. When we arrived in Lancashire, where all my relatives were, they came around. I produced this ordinary fruit cake and they couldn't believe their eyes. After a couple of mouthfuls they couldn't eat any more, their stomachs seemed to seize up."

Remarkably sharp at 83 years of age, Hadlee can reel off match-winning and match-saving situations, individual performances, and the off-field dinners and official duties, which made the 49ers a very attractive and popular team.

Sutcliffe's aggregate of 2627 runs has been bettered only by Australian Don Bradman and, with shorter tours these days, will always hold that pride of place. But Sutcliffe is typically humble when mention is made of his golden summer, and the seven centuries, which included a double of 243 and 100 not out against Essex at Southend.

"You have got to remember I played 49 innings on tour, and Bradman played 30 or 31 on his," said Sutcliffe. (Bradman actually batted 36 times for 2960 runs on the 1930 Australian tour).

Fellow left-hander Martin Donnelly topped the averages and highlighted his 2287 runs with a test double-century at Lord's, while six other batsmen scored more than 1000 runs. Tom Burtt bowled 1231 overs for an equally remarkable 128 inexpensive wickets, while Fen Cresswell, 37-year-old Jack Cowie, Ces Burke, and all-rounder Geoff Rabone claimed 50 or more victims.

Although Hadlee says "Tom Burtt had a marvellous tour and our attack centred around him", the Canterbury left-arm spinner was not exempt from criticism in one of his finest hours as he sought to rescue the tourists on that tricky Oxford pitch.

Sutcliffe chuckles when recalling "Tom was making the ball talk, floating them, getting it to grip, and doing all sorts of things. Wal was in his ear all the time, saying he wanted the ball two inches here or two inches there, but he told Tom not to bowl his Chinaman. Tom called it the Crusher. When he thought Wal wasn't looking he bowled it, dropped short, and got hit for four. Wal told him off as we walked from the field."

"It was actually three Chinamen," Hadlee adds, "and they all got pulled for fours. Tom mentioned to me he felt he'd had a good day with six for 18. I told him he could have had a better one with six for six!"

Senior players Hadlee, Wallace, Cowie, and Donnelly had toured England in 1937 and took the responsibility of leading from the front as the younger players adjusted to English conditions.

Sutcliffe's opening partner, Verdun Scott, was briefly in England with the 1939 New Zealand rugby league team, only for that tour to be abandoned after two games when war was declared.

The comradeship which developed among the 49ers was exemplified by the unlucky John Hayes, who damaged a groin muscle midway through the tour and had no chance of playing again. Hayes went to Hadlee and offered to be permanent 12th man, so that others could be relieved of that monotonous duty.

Hayes was limited to nine matches, all others played at least 18, and Sutcliffe and Donnelly appeared in 29 of the 32 games.

Sutcliffe and Scott set the pattern with a century first-wicket stand in the opening match against Yorkshire at chilly Bradford.

It was not unusual for 400 runs to be reaped in a day. Reid and Wallace came together at 19 for three and shared a partnership of 324 at Cambridge, while Donnelly and Wallace, from 32 for three, added 229 as New Zealand reached 430 in five hours against Leicestershire.

The Wisdens and Cricket Almanacks can only record what the 49ers achieved. To relive it, if ever so briefly, in the company of Hadlee and Sutcliffe was a rare privilege.

Source :: The Christchurch Press (https://www.press.co.nz/)