Tour of England 1937              Captain:  M L 'Curly' Page
	Second New Zealand Test tour (March -November 1937)     Second Test-playing  tour of England by New Zealand    (previous tour 1931)	The New Zealand Cricket Council dismissed the strain put upon players by the lengthy 1931 tour, and would not allow the 1937 team to have a fifteenth player to help, despite a schedule of more than forty matches played in twenty weeks. When slow bowler Bernie Griffiths was obliged to stand down (despite protesting that he was fit) and was replaced by a batsman, Jack Lamason, it was feared that the four main bowlers would have to play almost continuously and be overworked. until the senior players insisted and an extra bowler was added at the last moment. The New Zealanders had a moderate record, losing to five of the first-class counties, but were surprisingly resolute in the 3 Test matches, twice averting defeat and losing only at Old Trafford. After the final match of the British tour Jack Dunning needed to return directly to New Zealand and the bespectacled Cyril Parsloe was summoned for the three-match Australian tour. He should have been in the tour party all along because Cowie was the only fast bowler.  While in Sydney he stopped a runaway horse on Sydney Harbour bridge. The horse shied and threw its driver from his cart but Parsloe grabbed the animal.		All New Zealand tours     Previous tour. England 1931    Next tour   England 1949     Next tour of England 1949
	Members of the Test tour party  (15)     Opening batsmen: Walter Hadlee, Jack Kerr. Middle-order batsmen: Merv Wallace, Martin Donnelly, Curly Page, Bill Carson, Jack Lamason, Lindsay Weir. All-rounder:  Giff Vivian, Sonny Moloney. Wicket-keeper: Eric Tindill (and Tom Lowry in reserve) Spin bowlers: Jack Dunning, Norman Gallichan Fast bowlers:  Jack Cowie,  Alby Roberts.	W N Carson A 21 LHB         (LFM)   J Cowie A 25 RF   M P Donnelly W 19 LHB          SLA   J A Dunning O 34 RHB          OB/RM   N Gallichan    added W 31 SLA   W A Hadlee C 22 RHB   opener   J L Kerr C 26 RHB  opener   J R Lamason W 31 RHB            OB   D A R Moloney W 26 RHB           LB   M L Page C 35 RHB     captain   A W Roberts C 27 RHB            RM   E W T Tindill W 26 LHB            WK   H G Vivian A 24 LHB opener    LM/SLA   vice-captain   W M Wallace A 20 RHB   G L Weir. A 29 RHB     RM		Average age of  team at time of first Test match (26 June 1937) :   26 yrs  6 months.       Provincial representation  (Plunket Shield teams)   A - Auckland (5) C - Canterbury (4) O - Otago (1) W - Wellington (5)
	Test Appearances made before the tour	Page 11,  Weir 10,  Kerr 5,  Vivian 4,  Roberts 3,  Dunning 1,  Carson 0,  Cowie 0,  Donnelly 0,  Gallichan 0,  Hadlee 0,  Lamason 0,  Moloney 0,  Tindill 0,  Wallace 0,  Parsloe 0.
	Tour Officials	Tom Lowry Manager Bill Ferguson Scorer / baggage   Ferguson was just finishing the lengthy 1936-37 MCC tour and sailed with the New Zealanders from Wellington.
	Selectors	A W Duncan (Wellington),  J  J  M McMullan (Otago),  N C Snedden (Auckland)  and  H B Whitta (Canterbury).
	Selection	Unavailable  : The New Zealand Cricket Council refused to consider some leading cricketers playing professionally: Bill Merritt (in league cricket for Rishton),  Stewie Dempster (Leicestershire),  Ken James (Northamptonshire),  Roger Blunt (Sir Julien Cahn's XI)  or  Ted Badcock (Werneth in League cricket). The first eight names for the touring party were announced on 11 February:- Page, Kerr, Vivian (these three were only ones who had been to England in 1931), Hadlee, Roberts, Moloney, Carson, Wallace. Tour Party Announced  : 23 February 1937. Not selected:  Arguably, Ian Cromb (fast-medium bowler), L J Groves (leg-break bowler from Otago) or Cyril Parsloe (Wellington fast bowler) should have strengthened the bowling while Paul Whitelaw (Auckland opener) or batsman Ken Uttley, who could also keep wicket, may have helped. Tom Pritchard was aged only 20 and had not yet played a first-class match but Don Cameron wrote “Pritchard, the Taranaki Terror, probably the fastest and best bowler in New Zealand in 1937, was ignored because he lived away from a main centre”. [New Zealand Herald] Withdrawal : Bernie Griffiths lost his place on the tour on 9 March owing to an adverse doctor's report, and next day Lamason took his place. Addition:  The New Zealand Cricket Council would not increase the size of the party beyond fourteen, saying that manager Lowry could relieve the wicket-keeper if necessary. But at the last minute, in response to a request from Page, Vivian and Lowry, slow bowler Norman Gallichan of Wellington was added to the tour party on 23 March.		Time between selection and departure from New Zealand   32 days (23 February to 27 March)
	Travel Wellington  T  Southampton                  ‘Arawa’	The team left Wellington on Saturday 27 March on the ‘Arawa’, immediately after the drawn match with M.C.C.  The ‘Arawa’ developed engine trouble three days out from Wellington but lost only 30 hours making repairs. It sailed via Pitcairn (16 April) and Panama, and berthed at Southampton at 8 am on 4 May.  After being greeted at Waterloo Station, London, the team went straight to Lord’s Ground for their first practice.		Time spent in England    144 days (4 May - 25 September)
	On-tour selection panel	‘Curly’ Page (captain),  ‘Giff’ Vivian (vice-captain),  Tom Lowry (manager).
	Reinforcements	Manager Tom Lowry played in nineteen matches on the tour.  Fast bowler Alby Roberts missed matches in mid-tour with a shoulder injury.  Journalist W H Bickley (United Press Association) played for the New Zealanders against Scotland at Dunfermline. ‘Curly’ Page missed matches after the Test seies was over with stomach muscle strain.   C K Parsloe W 29 RFM Cyril Parsloe left New Zealand on 15 October to reinforce the team on their short Australian tour because Jack Dunning could not get further time off work and had left the tour party.
	Fixtures/Results	a Kennington Oval Surrey Drawn b Lord’s M C C Drawn c Cardiff Glamorgan Lost 6 w d Oxford Oxford University Drawn e ϯ Worcester Park Maori Cricket Club (postponed from earlier) Drawn f ϯ Stoke on Trent Staffordshire Won 158 r g Cambridge Cambridge University Won 8 w h Old Trafford Lancashire Lost 8 w i Northampton Northamptonshire Drawn j Derby Derbyshire Lost 202 r k Worcester Worcestershire Lost 136 r l Lord’s Middlesex Drawn m Preston Lancashire Lost inns 74 r n Trent Bridge Nottinghamshire Drawn o ϯ Lakenham, Norwich Norfolk Won 8 w p LORD’S ENGLAND  First Test DRAWN q Taunton Somerset Won 7 w r Bristol Gloucestershire Drawn s Leicester Leicestershire Drawn t Headingley Yorkshire Drawn u ϯ Sunderland Durham Drawn v Glasgow Scotland Won 3 w w ϯ Dunfermline Scotland Won inns 52 r x OLD TRAFFORD ENGLAND  Second Test LOST 130 r y Kennington Oval Surrey Won 142 r z Swansea Glamorgan Lost 332 r a’ Edgbaston Warwickshire Drawn b’ Chelmsford Essex Won 4 w c’ ϯ West Bridgford Sir Julien Cahn's XI Won 9 w d’ KENNINGTON OVAL ENGLAND  Third Test DRAWN e’ Portsmouth Combined Services Won 9 w f’ Bournemouth Hampshire Drawn g’ Canterbury Kent Lost 1 w h’ Hove Sussex Won inns 232 r I’ Folkestone An England XI Drawn j’ Gainsborough Minor Counties Won 7 w k’ Scarborough H D G Leveson-Gower's XI Lost 145 r l’ Dublin Ireland Won 8 w m’ ϯ Dublin Ireland(extra match) Won inns 52 r         n’ ϯ Colombo Ceylon(1-day) Drawn o’ Adelaide South Australia Lost 10 w p’ Melbourne Victoria Lost 5 w q’ Sydney New South Wales Lost 8 w		† not first-class             Time spent in England before First Test:  53 days (4 May - 26 June)
	Test appearances on tour	3  -   Cowie,  Donnelly,  Dunning,  Hadlee,  Moloney,  Page,  Tindill,  Vivian,  Wallace. 2  -   Kerr,  Roberts 1  -   Gallichan,  Weir. 0  -   Carson,  Lamason
	Match appearances           T  Test match x other match  ∙  played for opposition   W won  L lost  D drawn   T  tied N no result   A abandoned   u unknown result	a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a ‘ b ‘ c ‘ d ‘ e ‘ f ‘ g ‘ h ‘ I’ j’ k’ l’ m’ n’ o’ p’ q’ W N Carson x x   x x x x   x x x x x   x   x       x x x     x x x x   x x x   x x   x x x     x J Cowie x x   x     x x   x   x x x   T x   x x       T x     x x T x x x x x   x x x   x   x M P Donnelly x x   x ∙ x   x x x   x x x   T   x x x x x x T x x x x   T x x   x x x x x x x x x   J A Dunning     x x x x x   x x   x x x x T x x   x   x   T x     x   T x x x x x x               N Gallichan x x   x x x x   x   x       x   x   x   x x x T x x x   x   x x       x x x x x       W A Hadlee   x x   x x x x     x x x x x T x   x   x x x T x x x x   T   x x x x x x     x   x x J L Kerr x x x x x x     x x x   x x x T   x x x x x   T   x     x   x x x x x x x       x x x J R Lamason     x   x x x x x   x   x   x   x x x x x   x     x x x x   x   x     x x x x x   x x T C Lowry           x x       x   x x x   x       x x x     x     x   x     x   x x x x x   x   D A R Moloney x x x x x   x x   x x   x x x T   x x x x x   T x x x   x T   x x x x   x x x x x x x M L Page x   x   x   x x x x x x   x   T x x   x   x x T x x x x   T         x     x x   x     C K Parsloe                                                                                 x x x A W Roberts x x x x     x x x   x x   x x T   x x   x   x           x T x   x x x x x x x x x x   E W T Tindill x x x x       x x x   x   x x T x x x x       T x   x x x T   x x x x           x   x H G Vivian x x x x x x   x   x x x x     T   x x x x x   T x x x x   T x x x x           x x x x W M Wallace x x x x x x x x x x   x       T x x x x   x x T x   x x x T       x x x x x x x x x x G L Weir.     x   x x   x x x x x x x x   x x   x x   x   x x x x x T x x x     x x x x x x x x W H Bickley                                             x                                          R E S U L T S D D L D D W W L D L L D L D W D W D D D D W W L W L D W W D W D L W D W L W W D L L L   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z a ‘ b ‘ c ‘ d ‘ e ‘ f ‘ g ‘ h ‘ I’ j’ k’ l’ m’ n’ o’ p’ q’
	Highlights	•   Sonny Moloney (64) and Alby Roberts (66*) added 104 for the eighth wicket in the first Test at Lord’s. •   Merv Wallace scored a fifty in each innings of the Lord’s Test match; Giff Vivian did the same at Old Trafford. •   Jack Cowie’s bowling return of 4-73 and 6-67 in the second Test at Old Trafford was the first time a New Zealand bowler had taken 10 wickets in a Test Match. •   Cowie took 19 wickets in the three Tests at less than 21 apiece; and 114 in the first-class matches on tour. •   Six of the batsmen topped 1000 first-class runs for the tour, Wallace being the first to do so on 20 July, and the eventual top scorer with 1641 runs.	New Zealand’s previous Test tour result:   in England 1931 (3 Tests)  -  lost 0-1
	⋆ Tour Summary	in British Isles  F W  L  D Aban Test Matches   3   0   1   2 - Other first-class matches 29   9   8 12 - †Minor matches   7   5   0   2 - All Matches 39 14   9 16 -             including during the sea voyage home 43 14 12 17 -	F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   T  Tied   D Drawn   Canc  Cancelled Aban  abandoned
	Return to New Zealand   Gravesend  T  Fremantle                ‘Orontes’               Sydney  T  Wellington             ‘Awatea’	The touring party (less Dunning and Tindill) left Gravesend on the 'Orontes' on 25 September. Eric Tindill left the tour early to visit Paris separately with his wife as their honeymoon. On 11 September he boarded the ‘Orion’ to rejoin the tour, passing through Fremantle a fortnight before the team arrived there. Jack Dunning was unable to get time off to play in Australia and, leaving Gravesend on the ‘Rangitiki’ on 16 September reached New Zealand by way of Panama on 21 October to return to work.. The main tour party sailed via Gibraltar, Toulon, Naples, Port Said, Aden and Ceylon.  After the one-day match in Colombo on 16 October, they were entertained by a display of devil dancing on Mount Lavinia.  The 'Orontes' arrived at Fremantle on 26 October but no match was played at Perth and the team moved on to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney for the three-match Australian tour. The fifteen players arrived home from Sydney on the 'Awatea', which docked at Wellington on the morning of 26 November.	Time away from New Zealand    244 days   (27 March to 26 November)
	Finances	In England the tour lost £1000.  On the way home extra matches between New Zealand and Australian states were played to help cover debts incurred in England.
	Written accounts of the tour	The tour was described in : “Tom Lowry - Leader in a Thousand”  (2010)   by  Bill Francis (Trio Books) “Merv Wallace - A Cricket Master” (2000) by  Joseph Romanos  (Joel Publishing)
	Postscript	While most touring parties make a forlorn promise to play brighter cricket, Lowry said “As club cricketers … we will try to play as brightly as we can but we are not going to sacrifice any game to obtain this win.”
	Other Test tours in 1937	None