Tour of England 1986                     Captain : Jeremy Coney

21st official Test tour.

Tenth Test-playing  tour of England by New Zealand

(June - September 1986)

Murray Chapple, the former Test batsman and manager of the New Zealand tour party to West Indies in 1972, was appointed in charge of the 1986 team but died on 31 July 1985.  Bob Vance, the manager in Australia the previous summer, took his place.  When Vance became unwell during the tour and had to return home early, Glenn Turner took over, with Ewan Chatfield serving as his assistant and Bruce Edgar looking after financial matters.

Richard Hadlee obtained agreement from the New Zealand Cricket Council and the Test & County Cricket Board (TCCB) that, because it was his benefit year with Notts, he could join the tour for the international matches only. He was sponsored for $50 a wicket by the NZ meat packers, Waitaki.

When Hadlee was bowling Gooch described it as facing the World XI at one end and Ilford 2nd XI at the other. When they won the second Test, the New Zealanders had T-shirts made up with an appropriate slogan.

Jeremy Coney was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 31 July.

Chatfield, Rutherford, Martin Crowe and Stirling were lucky to escape injury when their car was written off in a crash near Nottingham on 5 August.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour

Australia 1985-86

Next tour

Sri Lanka 1986-87

Next tour of England

1990

Members of the Test tour party  (16)

Opening batsmen :Bruce Edgar, Trevor Franklin, John Wright

Middle-order batsmen: Jeremy Coney, Jeff Crowe, Martin Crowe, Ken Rutherford

Wicket-keepers: Ian Smith, Trevor Blain

Spin bowlers: John Bracewell, Evan Gray

All-rounder:  Richard Hadlee.

Fast bowlers: Brian Barrett, Ewan Chatfield, Derek Stirling, Willie Watson

Provincial representation

A - Auckland (5)

C - Canterbury (2)

CD - Central Districts (4)

ND - Northern Districts (0)

O - Otago (1)

W - Wellington (4)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(24 July 1986) :  29 yrs  7 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Hadlee 63,  Coney 46,  Wright 46,  Edgar 36,  Smith 31,  MD Crowe 29,  Chatfield 28,  J J Crowe 23,  Bracewell 17,  Rutherford 7,  Gray 4,  Stirling 4,  Franklin 2,  Barrett 0,  Blain 0,  Watson 0.

Team Officials

Selectors

Frank Cameron (convenor),  John Guy  and  Don Neely

Selection

Unavailable  : Stephen Boock,   John F Reid.

Tour Party Announced  : 21 April 1986.

Watson learned on the same day that he joined Northamptonshire on a cricket scholarship that he would be required for the tour party and could play for only seven weeks with his new county.

Not selected:   G K (Gary) Robertson,  Stuart Gillespie.

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand

  52 days

(21 April to 12 June)

Travel

The team assembled in Auckland on 12 June.  Seven players were already playing in England.

Departure from New Zealand was on …. 

The team flew by way of California where they stayed for a short holiday break, to Gatwick Airport, London, on 19 June 1986, and to the tour headquarters, the Waldorf Hotel. 

Time spent in England

   75 days

(19 June - 4 September)

On-tour selection panel

Glenn Turner,  Jeremy Coney,  John Wright.

Reinforcements

None.  When Ewen Chatfield broke his thumb he was asked to perform managerial duties when Vance went home, rather than being flown home, and he played again later in the tour.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in England before First Test: 

35 days

(19 June  - 24 July)

Test appearances on tour

3  -   Bracewell,  Coney,  Martin Crowe,  Jeff Crowe,  Edgar,  Gray,  Hadlee,  Wright.

2  -   Smith,  Stirling,  Watson

1  -   Blain,  Chatfield,  Rutherford.

0  -   Barrett.

Highlights

•   Martin Crowe (106) and Bruce Edgar (83) added 210 for the 2nd wicket in the Lord’s Test

•   Richard Hadlee took 6-80 at Lord’s.

•   Hadlee took 6-80 again at Trent Bridge, and 4-60 giving him yet another return of 10 wickets in a match.

•   John Bracewell scored his maiden Test century (110) in New Zealand’s victory at Trent Bridge

•   John Wright scored 119 at The Oval

•  Rutherford scored 317 in the final tour match, the youngest New Zealander (at the age of 20) to score a triple century.

Tour Summary

Return to New Zealand

Manager Bob Vance was unwell and returned to New Zealand after the first Test, Chatfield taking over as manager.

Ian Smith returned home early (on 23 August) owing to a viral infection.

The team was about to leave from Gatwick Airport on 4 September when Trevor Franklin was struck by a luggage trolley. He was taken to hospital with multiple fractures of his leg.

Time away from New Zealand    x days  

(depart NZ to arrive home NZ)

Finances

Written accounts of the tour

"The Crowe Report: Inside Story of the English Tour 1986"  by Dave Crowe (South Sea Visuals).

Summer of Suspense”  Patrick Eager  & Alan Ross.