Tour of Zimbabwe & Sri Lanka 1992-93        Captain : Martin Crowe

28th official Test tour.

First Test-playing  tour of Zimbabwe by New Zealand

Third Test-playing tour of Sri Lanka by New Zealand

 (October - December 1992)

New Zealand’s previous Test visit to Sri Lanka in 1986-87 was abruptly abandoned after a massive car bomb exploded in an area the team had just passed through. Now another bomb was detonated by the Tamil Tigers, killing the Sri Lankan commander of naval forces by exploding a suicide bomb in the same street as the New Zealanders' hotel in Colombo.

Yet the team continued the tour, with a revised itinerary, trade with Sri Lanka and other considerations being regarded as priorities. Under the terms of their contract, Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe had to stay on tour but the others were given a choice. The vote was 8-6 in favour of returning home until Peter McDermott, the Chairman of New Zealand Cricket flew in to meet players individually and persuade them to reverse their decision.

Five players and the coach insisted on returning home but other players were drafted in to take their place. Under-strength, the New Zealanders fought hard to achieve a draw at Moratuwa but were skittled in the second Test match. The one-day series was also lost but the tour obligations had been fulfilled and compensation avoided.

Earlier the tour had been going well, all the matches in Zimbabwe bar one being won and several young players developing their game well, whereas in Sri Lanka, all were lost bar one.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour

Pakistan 1990-91

Next tour

Australia 1993-94

Next tour of Zimbabwe 

Next tour of Sri Lanka 

1998

Members of the Test tour party (15)

In Zimbabwe

Opening batsmen  Rod Latham, Blair Hartland, Mark Greatbatch

Middle-order batsmen  Martin Crowe, Andrew Jones, Dipak Patel, Ken Rutherford

Wicket-keepers  Adam Parore

Medium-paced bowlers:  Chris Harris, Gavin Larsen

Spin bowlers  Mark Haslam,

Fast bowlers  Simon Doull, Dion Nash, Murphy Su’a, Willie Watson

In Sri Lanka (14)

Opening batsmen  John Wright,  Blair Hartland

Middle-order batsmen  Martin Crowe, Andrew Jones, Ken Rutherford, Justin Vaughan

Wicket-keeper  Adam Parore

Medium-paced bowler:  Chris Harris.

Spin bowlers  Mark Haslam, Grant Bradburn

Fast bowlers  Dion Nash, Murphy Su’a, Chris Pringle, Michael Owens

Provincial representation

A - Auckland (5)

C - Canterbury (3)

CD - Central Districts (1)

ND - Northern Districts (2)

O - Otago (1)

W - Wellington (3)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(1 November 1992) :  26 yrs  9 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Crowe 59,  Rutherford 30,  Jones 23,  Greatbatch 20,  Patel 16,  Watson 10,  Hartland 3,  Parore 2,  Su’a 2,  Latham 1, Doull 0,  Harris 0,  Haslam 0,  Larsen 0,  Nash 0.

Wright 77,  Pringle 6,  Bradburn 0,  Owens 0,  Vaughan 0.

Team Officials

Selectors

Don Neely (convenor),  Ross Dykes  and  Bruce Taylor.

Selection

Unavailable :  Ian Smith announced his retirement after the World Cup.

                     John Wright (unavailable)

Tour Party Announced  : 4 September 1992 in Wellington.

Withdrawal:  Chris Cairns and Danny Morrison withdrew with injuries before the tour began.  Simon Doull and Mark Haslam were brought in to take their places.

Not selected: 

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand

  x days

(4 September to depart NZ)

Travel     Q 

Starts in Zimbabwe on 21 October.

After the Zimbabwe section of the tour, the team flew from Harare to Singapore and from there to Colombo

Time spent in Zimbabwe & Sri Lanka

   x days

(arrival - depart Host)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Simon Doull suffered a stress fracture in Zimbabwe, so Chris Pringle was called up to join the team in Singapore.

After the bombing Grant Bradburn, Michael Owens, Justin Vaughan and John Wright ……

Fixtures/Results

(1) South Harare Country Club     (2) Old Georgian Sports Club   (3) Harare Sports Club

(N-W)  in north-west Sri Lanka    (SSC)  Sinhalese Sports Club   (PSS)  P Saravanamuttu Stadium.

† not first-class

§

Time spent in Zimbabwe  before First Test: 

x days

(arrival - 1 November 1992)

Test appearances on tour

4  -   Crowe, Jones,  Parore,  Rutherford,  Su’a

3  - 

2  -   Greatbatch,  Harris,  Hartland,  Haslam,  Latham,  Nash,  Owens,  Patel,  Watson,   Wright.

1  -   Bradburn,  Doull,  Pringle,  Vaughan

0  -   Larsen

Highlights

•   Rod Latham hit his maiden century (119) in the first Test in Bulawayo, while his opening partner Mark Greatbatch had scores of 87 and 88

•   Dipak Patel took 6-113 in the innings at Bulawayo and then 6-50 in the innings at Harare

•   Martin Crowe struck 140 at Harare, including scoring 96 between lunch and tea

•   Ken Rutherford hit his second Test hundred (105) followed by 51 at Moratuwa

•   Martin Crowe struck his fifteenth Test century (107) in a losing cause at Colombo SSC

Tour Summary

Return to New Zealand  Q 

Simon Doull returned early …

Warren Lees (coach), Greatbatch, Larsen, Latham, Patel and Watson opted to return to New Zealand after the bombing.

Time away from New Zealand    x days  

(depart NZ to arrive home NZ)

Finances