Test Cricket Tour New Zealand to West Indies 1971-72

Test Cricket Tours - New Zealand to West Indies 1971-72

Tour of West Indies 1971-72               Captain : Graham Dowling

Tenth New Zealand Test tour.

(January - May 1972)

First Test-playing tour of West Indies by New Zealand
   (no previous tour)



The South African tour of New Zealand in 1971-72 was called off but the New Zealanders were not without Test cricket as they made their first-ever tour of the West Indies. Although the record books might portray it as a futile series, the five drawn Test matches contained much of interest. While their approach rarely produced attacking cricket, the tourists would have won the third Test match but for a couple of dropped chances. The New Zealanders seemed mostly to be striving to match large first-innings totals and could not score fast enough on the lifeless wickets. They also suffered the considerable disadvantage of losing the toss on all five occasions.
Individual strengths lay in the patient, dependable batting of Turner and Congdon, and the fast-medium bowling of Taylor who found he was able to extract life from the docile pitches. But all the members of the team showed fighting spirit and determination - for instance, in the efforts made to improve their fielding - and gave their full support to Dowling and, when he had to return home injured, his successor Congdon.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour
Pakistan 1969

Next tour
England 1973

Next tour of West Indies
1984-85

Members of the Test tour party (15 + 1)

Opening batsmen Glenn Turner Graham Dowling, Terry Jarvis
Middle-order batsmen: Mark Burgess, Bev Congdon, Brian Hastings, Graham Vivian, [+ Ross Morgan (reinforcement)]
Wicket-keepers:Ken Wadsworth, Keith Campbell
Spin bowlers:Hedley Howarth, Jack Alabaster.
Fast bowlers: Dick Collinge, Dick Cunis, Bruce Taylor, Murray Webb.

J C Alabaster
O
41
LBG

M G Burgess
A
27
RHB

K O Campbell
O
28
RHB   second WK

R O Collinge
W
26
LFM

B E Congdon
W
34
RHB     RM    vice-captain

R S Cunis
A
31
RFM

G T Dowling
C
34
RHB opener    captain

B F Hastings
C
31
RHB

H J Howarth
A
28
SLA

T W Jarvis
A
27
RHB opener

B R Taylor
W
28
LHB    RFM

G M Turner
O
24
RHB opener      deputy captain

G E Vivian
A
25
LHB   LB

K J Wadsworth
CD
25
WK

M G Webb
O
24
RF

Provincial representation
(Plunket Shield teams)

A - Auckland (5)
C - Canterbury (2)
CD - Central Districts (1)
ND - Northern Districts (0)
O - Otago (4)
W - Wellington(3)

Average age of team at time of first Test match
(16 February 1972) :
29 years 5 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Dowling 37, Congdon 31, Taylor 20, Alabaster 19, Morgan 17, Burgess 15, Collinge 15, Cunis 15, Hastings 11, Howarth 11, Turner 11, Wadsworth 11, Jarvis 6, Vivian 1, Webb 1, Campbell 0.

Tour Officials

Murray E Chapple
Manager

Selectors

Ken Deas (convenor), Frank Cameron and Frank Mooney.

Selection

Simultaneously, the selectors chose another team to play in a knock-out tournament in Australia.
Unavailable : Bryan Andrews ; Dayle Hadlee (back) ; Dick Motz (retired because of a back injury) ; Vic Pollard (objected to playing on Sundays).
Tour Party Announced : 16 January 1972
The Board voted for a vice-captain to Dowling and narrowly chose Congdon over Turner.
Dick Collinge was selected subject to a fitness test on his knee.
Not selected: Simultaneously, the selectors chose another team to play in a knock-out tournament in Australia: R W Morgan (captain), M L Ryan (vice-captain and wk), B Andrews, R W Anderson, B Dunning, W A Greenstrcet, B G Hadlee, R J Hadlee, G A Newdick, R E Redmond, M J F Shrimpton, D G Trist.

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand
14 days
(16 January to 30 January)

Travel

Auckland Q Kingston

On 18 January Bob Cunis returned home from Australia where he had been playing for the Rest of the World XI.
The team assembled at Christchurch and made their way from there on 27 January to Auckland. Flying out on the night of 30 January, the team arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, the next day.

Time spent in West Indies
   87 days
(31 January - 27 April)

On-tour selection panel

Graham Dowling (later Murray Chapple took his place), Bevan Congdon, Glenn Turner.

Reinforcements

R W Morgan
W
32
RHB     OB
Ross Morgan was brought in for Dick Collinge whose infant daughter died.
When Graham Dowling who was in hospital in Trinidad with a severe back injury was forced to return home, Congdon became captain and Turner vice-captain. Manager Murray Chapple became the 3rd selector.
Murray Chapple played in one match, as did Russell Vogtherr (the Assistant Trade Commissioner in Trinidad).

Fixtures/Results

a
ϯ Mona, Kingston
West Indian Universities (40 overs)
Won 104 r
b
Kingston (Sabina Park)
Jamaica
Drawn
c
Montego Bay
President of WICB XI
Drawn
d
KINGSTON(Sabina Park)
WEST INDIES First Test
DRAWN
e
St John’s, Antigua
Leeward Islands
Drawn
f
ϯ Scarborough
Tobago (2-day)
Won inns 40 r
g
Pointe-a-Pierre
Trinidad
Drawn
h
PORT OF SPAIN
WEST INDIES   Second Test
DRAWN
i
Bridgetown
Barbados
Drawn
j
BRIDGETOWN
WEST INDIES Third Test
DRAWN
k
Georgetown
Guyana
Drawn
l
GEORGETOWN
WEST INDIES Fourth Test
DRAWN
m
Kingstown, St Vincent
Windward Islands
Drawn
n
ϯ Kingstown, St Vincent
Windward Islands (45 overs)
Won 6 w
o
PORT OF SPAIN
WEST INDIES Fifth Test
DRAWN
p
Hamilton
Bermuda
Won inns 31 r

† not first-class

Time spent in West Indies before First Test: 16 days
(31 January- 16 February)

Test appearances on tour

5 - Burgess, Congdon, Cunis, Hastings, Howarth, Turner, Wadsworth
4 - Jarvis, Taylor, Vivian.
3 - Morgan
2 - Alabaster, Dowling
1 - Webb
0 -   Campbell, Collinge.

Match appearances

T Test match
x other match
∙ played for opposition

W won L lost D drawn
N no result   A abandoned
u unknown result

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
J C Alabaster

x

T
x
x
x
T
x

x

x
M G Burgess
x
x
x
T

x
x
T
x
T

T

T
x
K O Campbell
x

x
x
x

x

x

x
x

x
R O Collinge

x
x

x

B E Congdon
x
x
x
T
x

x
T

T
x
T
x
x
T
x
R S Cunis
x
x

T

x
x
T
x
T

T
x
x
T

G T Dowling
x
x
x
T

x

T

B F Hastings

x
x
T
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
T
x
x
T
x
H J Howarth
x
x
x
T

x
x
T

T

T
x
x
T
x
T W Jarvis
x
x
x
T
x
x

x
T
x
T
x
x
T
x
R W Morgan

x
T
x
T
x
x
T

B R Taylor
x

x

x
x
x
T
x
T
x
T

T
x
G M Turner
x
x
x
T
x

x
T
x
T
x
T

T
x
G E Vivian
x

x
x
x
T
x
T
x
T
x
x
T

K J Wadsworth

x
x
T
x

x
T

T
x
T
x
x
T
x
M G Webb
x

x
T
x
x

x

x

x
x

x
M E Chapple

x

R Vogtherr

x

R E S U L T S
W
D
D
D
D
W
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
W
D
W

New Zealand’s six previous Test tour results:

in India & Pakistan 1969-70 (6 Tests)
- drew 1-1 and won 1-0
in England 1969 (3 Tests)
- lost 0-2
in England 1965 (3 Tests)
- lost 0-3
in India & Pakistan 1964-65 (7 Tests)
- lost 0-1, lost 0-2
in South Africa 1961-62 (5 Tests)
- drew 2-2
in England 1958 (5 Tests)
- lost 0-4

Highlights

• Glenn Turner scored 202 against the President’s XI and then 223*, carrying his bat, in the first Test.
• Congdon nearly equalled Turner’s feat with a century against Trinidad, then 166* in the 2nd Test
• Mark Burgess’s century in the second innings at Kingston saved the match for New Zealand
• In the third Test Bruce Taylor took 7-74, his best bowling in Tests, dismissing West Indies for 133.
• In Georgetown Glenn Turner hit 259 against Guyana, and then 259 again in the fourth Test.
• With Terry Jarvis (182) Turner shared a record opening partnership of 387.

⋆Tour Summary

F
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
5
0
0
5
-
Other first-class matches
8
1
0
7
-
ϯ Minor matches
3
3
0
0
-
All Matches
16
4
0
12
-

F Fixtures   W Won   L Lost   T Tied D Drawn   Canc Cancelled
Aban abandoned

Return to New Zealand

Port of SpainQ Kingston Q Bermuda
New YorkQ Auckland

The final Test was allocated one extra day, so the team's departure from Trinidad was delayed until 27 April when the team flew from Port of Spain, by way of Kingston, to Hamilton, Bermuda, and straight to the Sherwoods Hotel at Pembroke, while the manager Murray Chapple remained in Kingston.
Glenn Turner returned to England to play county cricket. The other New Zealanders left for New York on 1 May and from London arrived back at Mangere Airport, Auckland, on Wednesday 3 May, then flying on to Christchurch.

Time away from New Zealand    94 days
(30 January to 3 May)

Finances

Profit £9000.

Written accounts of the tour

"Caribbean Crusade" D J Cameron (Hodder & Stoughton 1972)
"Gone With the Kiwis"   Brunel Jones (Trinidad, 1972)


Postscript

Other Test tours in 1971-72

South Africans to Australia 1971-72 cancelled
replaced by Rest of the World XI   in Australia