Tour of Pakistan 1984-85                    Captain : Jeremy Coney

18th official Test tour.

Fifth Test-playing  tour of Pakistan by New Zealand

 (November -

      December 1984)

The tourists appeared in a three-day match against Auckland prior to departure. The New Zealand Cricket Council decided that it was not first-class though the corresponding fixture held before the Australian tour in 1985-86 would be awarded first-class status.

The New Zealanders refused to play at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, because of its notorious pitch and the Second Test took place at Hyderabad.  Allegations were made that umpire Khizer Hayat gave biased decisions during the match. A committee headed by Hanif Mohammad found that mistakes were made but they were not deliberate and arose because of inexperience.

A double wicket competition held in Lahore for the benefit of Shafqat Rana in the middle of the official tour programme was won by Jeremy Coney and Jeff Crowe.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour

Sri Lanka 1983-84

Next tour

West Indies 1984-85

Members of the Test tour party (15)

Opening batsmen  John Wright, Bruce Edgar

Middle-order batsmen   Jeff Crowe, Martin Crowe, Jeremy Coney, Paul McEwan, John Reid

Wicket-keeper:  Ian Smith

Spin bowlers  John Bracewell, Stephen Boock, Evan Gray.

Fast bowlers  Lance Cairns, Ewen Chatfield, Martin Snedden, Derek Stirling.

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Provincial representation

A - Auckland (4)

C - Canterbury (1)

CD - Central Districts (3)

ND - Northern Districts (2)

O - Otago (1)

W - Wellington (4)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(16 November 1984) :  28 yrs  11 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Cairns 37,  Wright 31,  Coney 30,  Edgar 27,  Boock 16,  Chatfield 15,  Smith 15,  Martin Crowe 13,  Bracewell 10,  Jeff Crowe 10,  Snedden 10,  Reid 7,  McEwan 3,  Gray 2,  Stirling 0.

Team Officials

Selectors

Frank  Cameron (Convenor),   John Guy,   Don Neely.

Selection

Unavailable  : Richard Hadlee (health and family considerations and the length of the tour);  Geoff Howarth.

The selectors announced 12 of the 15 names as long before as June, selecting the three others (Bracewell, Snedden and Stirling) four months later as the Young New Zealanders' tour of Zimbabwe neared its end.

Tour Party Announced  : 22 October 1984.

Not selected: 

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand

  x/ 8 days

(June /22 October to 30 October)

Travel

After practice and a special preparation match in Auckland, the team left Wellington on 30 October 1984, flying by way of Australia, Singapore (where they played a match on 1 November) and Sri Lanka.

Bracewell, Snedden and Stirling from the Young New Zealand touring team in Zimbabwe flew direct from Harare to Sri Lanka.

They arrived in Colombo on the morning of 2 November for a two-match tour and in Karachi on 6 November, leaving the next day for Rawalpindi and the first match in Pakistan.

Time spent in Pakistan

   24 days

(6 November - 30 October)

On-tour selection panel

Jeremy Coney (captain),  John Wright (vice-captain)  and  ..

Reinforcements

None

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§  one-day international

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test: 

   10 days

(6 November - 16 November)

Test appearances on tour

3  -   Boock,  Coney,  J J Crowe,  MD Crowe,  Edgar,  Reid,  Smith,  Stirling,  Wright

2  -   Bracewell,  Gray

1  -   Chatfield,  McEwan

0  -   Cairns,  Snedden.

Highlights

•    John Reid scored his third Test century (106) at Hyderabad

•   Stephen Boock took 7-87 in 37 overs, the best Test bowling performance by a New Zealand spinner

•   In the final Test at Karachi John Wright scored 107, with an opening partnership of 83 with Edgar

•   Wright then added another 80 with John Reid who narrowly missed scoring another century (97)

•   Boock had 17 wickets in the series at an average of 25.

Tour Summary

Return to New Zealand

The last tour match, a benefit for Hanif Mohammad, took place on 16 December.  The tourists flew out of Karachi International Airportnext day

Time away from New Zealand    48 days  

(30 October to 17 December)

Finances

Written accounts of the tour