One off the most successful women in world cup history, the first man to take 400 test wickets and the man who scored the fastest test century are among the first players to be inducted into New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame was officially opened last night at the New Zealand Cricket Museum in Wellington by former White Fern and NZC President Lesley Murdoch.
The inaugural NZC Hall of Fame features the induction of 11 foundation members, whose playing careers span an era from 1947 to 2016.
The Hall of Fame is an alliance between NZC, the New Zealand Cricket Players Association and the New Zealand Cricket Museum.
It seeks to immortalise the country’s greatest cricketers, so that the players and fans of today can feel a sense of identity and a connection to those who have gone before them.
The rules require inductees to have played for New Zealand and to have been retired for at least five years, with criteria weighted in favour of performance, leadership and influence.
A softer guideline was that players recognised should be of world-class stature in their prime, good enough to be picked in a theoretical World XI.
A shortlist was researched and compiled by cricket historian, statistician and author Francis Payne and stress-tested with New Zealand women's cricket historian and author, Trevor Auger, Murdoch and the NZCPA.
Payne, the longtime co-author of the annual New Zealand Cricket Almanack, as well as various other publications including Men in White, said the beauty of the Hall of Fame concept was that it was a subjective exercise, calculated to cause discussion.
"The first intake is always the most straight-forward as it includes some players who essentially pick themselves, they stand out that much," said Payne.
"However, even in this phase there’ll still be discussions and debates about who should or should not be there - and that’s almost the point of the exercise, to keep the stories of New Zealand’s greatest players alive."
The foundation inductees will be celebrated on the field during the lunch break on day one of the second test between the Black Caps and England at the Basin Reserve today.
Bert Sutcliffe cemented his reputation as a world-class batsman on the 1949 tour of England, totalling 2627 first-class runs. But he became part of New Zealand Cricket folklore when he returned from hospital to clobber 80 not out in the Tangiwai test against South Africa in 1953.
When he retired, John Reid held the New Zealand test records for most matches, most matches as captain, most runs, most wickets and most catches.
Jackie Lord was a member of the women’s side which gained New Zealand’s historic first test win, against Australia at Melbourne in 1972.
Trish McKelvey captained that team and also led the side to their first test series win.
Glenn Turner scored 103 first class centuries, including seven at test level. He was the first New Zealander to score a century in each innings of a test, when New Zealand beat Australia for the first time in 1974.
Sir Richard Hadlee was one of the best fast bowlers in the world. He took 431 test wickets, which was a world-record at the time. His nine for 52 against Australia in Brisbane in 1985-86 was arguably the best ever spell of fast bowling.
Debbie Hockley scored 1301 runs at 52.04 in 19 tests, and also scored 4064 runs at 41.89 in 118 ODIs. She is also remembered as one of the greatest players in World Cup history, having scored 1501 runs in 45 games at 42.88.
Martin Crowe had few peers in his pomp. He notched 17 centuries, and none was better than his 188 at Georgetown in 1985, against a West Indies attack containing some of the most fearsome fast bowlers in the history of the game.
Emily Drumm became the first New Zealand cricketer to captain a World Cup winning side.
Daniel Vettori became New Zealand’s youngest test cricketer when he made his debut against England at the Basin Reserve in 1996-97 at the age of 18 years and 10 days. He went on to take 362 test wickets and scored some valuable runs as well.
Brendon McCullum led New Zealand out of the cricketing doldrums with some bold captaincy and scored New Zealand’s first triple test century.
NZC Hall of Fame
The "First Eleven"
Bert Sutcliffe, John Reid, Jackie Lord, Trish McKelvey, Glenn Turner, Sir Richard Hadlee, Debbie Hockley, Martin Crowe, Emily Drumm, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum
