Tour of India 1988-89                     Captain : John Wright

24th official Test tour

Fifth Test-playing  tour of India by New Zealand

 (October -

         December 1988)

The NZ Cricket Council threatened to call off the tour because of the crammed ODI itinerary but the Indian Board quickly changed it.

The New Zealanders lost two Test matches, and thus the series, but gained much credit for the way they performed at Bombay, winning the second Test.  A ninth wicket partnership helped New Zealand to reach a large total before Hadlee and Bracewell bowled the Indians out.  Throughout the tour the bowling relied on the veteran Hadlee (aged 37) before he had to go home early.

The final limited-overs international at Jammu was abandoned, the first one-day match in India to be washed out by rain.  India won the Charminar Challenge by four matches to nil.

Although objections were raised at first, the New Zealand Cricket Council eventually permitted John Wright and Richard Hadlee to write for newspapers during the tour.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour

Australia 1987-88

Next tour

Australia 1989-90

Next Indian tour 

1995-96

Members of the Test tour party (15)

Opening batsmen: Trevor Franklin, John Wright

Middle-order batsmen: Bert Vance, Ken Rutherford, Mark Greatbatch, Andrew Jones.

Wicket-keeper: Tony  Blain, Ian Smith.

Spin bowlers: John Bracewell, Evan Gray, Chris Kuggeleijn.

All-rounder:Richard Hadlee

Fast bowlers:  Ewen Chatfield, Danny Morrison, Martin Snedden

A - Auckland (5)

C - Canterbury (2)

CD - Central Districts (2)

ND - Northern Districts (1)

O - Otago (1)

W - Wellington (4)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(12 November 1988) : 

   30 yrs  3 months.

ODI  member of one-day series sqaud

Test Appearances made before the tour

Hadlee 74,  Wright 58,  Smith 43,  Chatfield 38,  Bracewell 30,  Snedden 16,  Rutherford 14,  Gray 9,  Morrison 6,  Franklin 5,  Jones 5,  Greatbatch 2,  Watson 2,  Blain 1,  Vance 1,  Kuggeleijn  0.  

Team Officials

Selectors

Don Neely (convenor),  Gren Alabaster  and  Bob Cunis

Selection

Unavailable  :  Richard Hadlee had sworn he'd never tour India again but changed his mind.  Martin Crowe was at first not available through a back injury.

Tour Party Announced  :

Withdrawal :  Martin Crowe (CD), 26, failed his medical test and withdrew on 28 September because of a toxic allergy.

14 names were announced plus one fast bowler from the Young New Zealand tour of Zimbabwe, either Danny Morrison or William Watson.  The selection was finalised on 17 October.

Not selected: 

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand

  x days

(selection to 25 October)

Travel

Departure was from Auckland on 25 October, 

The team arrived in two batches from

The first group (Blain, Franklin, Greatbatch, Morrison, Rutherford, Vance) flew in to Bombay late at night on 26 October and were conducted to the Taj Palace Hotel.  The second group (Hadlee, Gray, Jones, Bracewell, Smith, Kuggeleijn, Chatfield, Snedden, Cunis) arrived the next morning from Auckland via Singapore.

Time spent in India

   x days

(26 October - December)

On-tour selection panel

John Wright (captain),  Martin Snedden (vice-captain),  Bob Cunis (coach).

Reinforcements

Willie Watson arrived during the third Test for Richard Hadlee who returned home after the match with an achilles tendon injury.

Bert Vance who had a foot injury returned home with Hadlee so New Zealand had only 14 players for the Charminar Challenge ODI series.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in India before First Test: 

17 days

(26 October - 12 November)

Test appearances on tour

3  -   Bracewell,  Chatfield,  Franklin,  Greatbatch,  Hadlee,  Jones,  Smith,  Wright

2  -   Blain,  Kuggeleijn,  Rutherford

1  -   Gray,  Morrison,  Snedden

0  -   Vance

Highlights

•   Richard Hadlee took 9-55 in the first tour match at Rajkot; and 6-49 and 4-39 in the second Test at Bombay

•   Hadlee became Test cricket’s highest wicket-taker, overtaking at Bangalore Ian Bothams’ tally of 373.

•   In the second Test at Bombay John Bracewell not only took 8 wickets but scored 52 and 32.

•   Mark Greatbatch (90*) and Ian Smith (79) had a partnership of 139 for the seventh wicket at Hyderabad.

Tour Summary

Return to New Zealand

Heavy overnight rain in the Himalayan foothills flooded the outfiled at Jammu and the final one-day international was abandoned. The Kiwis intended to head home as soon as possible c 21 December

Time away from New Zealand    x days  

(25 October to  December)

Finances