Tour of Australia 2001-02                     Captain : Stephen Fleming

42nd official Test tour.

Eighth Test-playing  tour of Australia by New Zealand

 (November -

         December 2001)

Originally, there was to be only one warm-up game, against Queensland and three back-to-back Tests. Once New Zealand abandoned its Pakistan tour, three extra games were added.

The New Zealanders’ bowling attack was hit by a spate of injuries but it was easy to summon replacements from across the Tasman Sea.

It was an exciting series in which New Zealand held their own before putting pressure on Australia to save the third Test at Perth.  Middle-order batsman Lou Vincent, who was raised in Adelaide, replaced Bell opening the innings at Perth and became the sixth New Zealander to score a century on Test debut, and the first player touring Australia to achieve the feat since 1932-33.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour

South Africa 2000-01

Pakistan 2001-02 cancelled

Next tour

Pakistan 2002

Next tour of Australia 

2004-05

Members of the Test tour party (15 + 3)

Opening batsmen  Mark Richardson, Matthew Bell, Lou Vincent.

Middle-order batsmen: Craig McMillan, Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair,

Wicket-keeper  Adam Parore

All-rounder:  Chris Cairns

Spin bowlers  Daniel Vettori, Glen Sulzberger [+ Paul Wiseman (reinforcement)]

Fast bowlers , Chris Martin, Shayne O’Connor, Darryl Tuffey, Dion Nash [+ Shane Bond and Chris Drum (reinforcements)].

Provincial representation

A - Auckland (3)

C - Canterbury (4)

CD - Central Districts (2)

ND - Northern Districts (2)

O - Otago (2)

W - Wellington (2)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(8 November 2001) : 

            27 yrs  4 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Parore 70,  Fleming 60,  Cairns 49,  Astle 46,  McMillan 31,  Nash 31,  Vettori 31,  O’Connor 18,  Sinclair 13,  Bell 11,  Richardson 9,  Martin 7,  Tuffey 6,  Sulzberger 0, Vincent 0,  Bond 0.

Team Officials

Selectors

Sir Richard Hadlee (chairman),   Ross Dykes,  Brian McKechnie  and  Denis Aberhart (coach)

Selection

Unavailable : Jacob Oram (a bone broken in his foot during pre-season training; he was replaced by Dion Nash);  Matthew Horne (until recovered from a virus).

Tour Party announced   4 October 2001.

All-rounder Chris Cairns, out of action for eight months following knee surgery, was fit again and took the place of James Franklin who had been in the team for the cancelled tour of Pakistan.

Dion Nash and left-arm swing bowler Shayne O’Connor seemed to have recovered from their injuries (O’Connor a knee tendon problem caused by too much bowling work falling on him on the South African tour).

Not selected:  Matthew Horne (opening batsman).

Seven players were on standby :  Matthew Horne, Hamish Marshall, Shane Bond, James Franklin, Chris Nevin, Brooke Walker and Paul Wiseman.

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand

  8 days

(4 October to 12 October)

Travel

Christchurch  Q Brisbane

The Black Caps were scheduled to arrive in Australia on 1 November, but three extra warm-up games were added so they would now arrive 2½ weeks earlier.

The New Zealand tour squad assembled at New Zealand Cricket's High Performance Centre at Lincoln University on Thursday 11 October and departed for Brisbane from Christchurch International Airport on Friday 12 October, without Chris Cairns.  They arrived in Brisbane the next day, well ahead of schedule.

Chris Cairns, who remained in Christchurch to continue his rehabilitation, joined the team in Queensland on 20 October.

Time spent in Australia

   55 days

(13 October- 7 December)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

ADDED ▷     Wiseman, Bond, Drum

◁ W/D   Vettori, Nash, O’Connor

On 24 October the selectors called upon off-spinner Paul Wiseman to replace injured Daniel Vettori during the tour.  Vettori injured an ankle ligament when fielding off his own bowling in the second match and flew back to Christchurch on Thursday 25 October, while Wiseman had flown from there to Brisbane earier that morning. Vettori then flew back on 3 November from Christchurch to Brisbane to rejoin the team.

On 13 November Dion Nash went home for treatment on a torn abdominal muscle after playing in the first Test at Brisbane. Nash's replacement, Shane Bond, arrived in Adelaide on 13 November. Shayne O’Connor also returned home with a worsening of the injured patella tendon in his right knee on 20 November. 

Chris Drum flew to Perth on 26 November as cover for the 3rd Test when Daryl Tuffey strained his hamstring.  Both Drum and Tuffey played in the last tour match at Canberra.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in Australia before First Test: 

26 days

(13 October - 8 November)

Test appearances on tour

3  -   Astle,  Cairns,  Fleming,  McMillan,  Parore,  Richardson,  Sinclair,  Vettori.

2  -   Bell,  Bond

1  -   Martin,  Nash,  O’Connor,  Tuffey,  Vincent.

0  -   Drum,  Sulzberger,  Wiseman.

Highlights

•  Chris Cairns took 5-146 at Brisbane and then scored an explosive 43 to take NZ close to victory.

•  Daniel Vettori took 5 wickets for 138 at Hobart.

•  At Perth in the third Test, Lou Vincent (104) scored a century on debut, the sixth New Zealander to do so.

•  Three other New Zealanders scored centuries in the same innings: Fleming (105), Astle (156*) and Parore (110). Nathan Astle’s 156 not out became New Zealand's second highest score against Australia.

•  Astle and Parore put on 253 together for the 8th wicket, the second highest such partnership in Test cricket.

Tour Summary

Return to New Zealand

?  Q Christchurch

Dion Nash went home for treatment on 13 November and Shayne O’Connor on 20 November. 

The last match was played in Canberra.  The team arrived home on 8 December 2001.

Time away from New Zealand    57 days  

(12 October to 8 December)

Finances

Postscript

The New Zealanders returned to Australia in January 2002 for the VB Series, playing eight first round one-day internationals, two finals matches and two side matches.

Despite rehabilitation on his knee since returning early from Australia, Shayne O’Connor was advised that surgery was the best option, which ended his season.