Tour of Zimbabwe 2005-06                  Captain : Stephen Fleming

50th official Test tour.

Fourth Test-playing  tour of Zimbabwe by New Zealand

(July  - August 2005)

The New Zealand public widely disapproved of the tour because of the human rights record of Robert Mugabe’s government in Zimbabwe. Prime Minister Helen Clark opposed it and asked the players not to go, but because the NZ Government would not actively prevent the players from going there, New Zealand Cricket would be fined $2.8 million by the I C C if they did not fulfil its ‘Future Tours Programme’ obligation to tour, and would have to pay Zimbabwe compensation for lost TV revenue.

Zimbabwe, weakened by nearly all the leading players deserting the national team, were thrashed. They put up a dismal display, losing the Harare Test match in two days (becoming the second team in Test history to be bowled out twice in a day) and lost the match at Bulawayo in three days.

New Zealand then won the triangular Videocon series beating India in the final.  Stars of the tour were New Zealand’s only fast bowler Shane Bond who came through with no fitness problems and achieved record bowling figures, and Daniel Vettori with pretensions now to be regarded as an all-rounder.

All New Zealand tours

Previous tour

Australia 2004-05

Next tour

South Africa 2005-06

Next tour of Zimbabwe

2011-12

Members of the Test tour party (15)

Opening batsmen  Lou Vincent, Craig Cumming, James Marshall

Middle-order batsmen  Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris

Wicket-keeper  Brendon McCullum

All-rounder:  Jacob Oram

Spin bowlers  Daniel Vettori, Paul Wiseman

Fast bowlers  Shane Bond, Chris Martin, James Franklin, Kyle Mills

Provincial representation

 (State Championship teams)

A - Auckland (4)

C - Canterbury (4)

CD - Central Districts (1)

ND - Northern Districts (3)

O - Otago (1)

W - Wellington (2)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(7 August 2005) :  2 yrs  11 months.

ODI :  part of the ODI squad for Videocon Cup

Test Appearances made before the tour

Fleming 94,  Astle 71,  Vettori 62,  Martin 23,  Vincent 20,  Styris 19,  McCullum 15,  Franklin 11,  Bond 10,  H Mashall 7,  J Marshall 3, 

Team Officials

Selectors

Sir Richard Hadlee (selection manager), Dion Nash,  Glenn Turner.

Selection

Unavailable  : None   It was expected that some players might not tour Zimbabwe on moral grounds, but no-one publicly announced that they were unavailable. 

Shane Bond returned to the national squad after being out for two years with injury.

Tour Party Announced  : 21 June 2005.

Not selected:  Daryl Tuffey and Chris Harris (both currently unfit); Ian Butler;  Mathew Sinclair.

Time between selection and departure from New Zealand

  34 days

(21 June  to 25 July)

Travel

?  Q Windhoek  Q Harare

The team flew out of New Zealand on 25 July 2005.

After a week’s preparation in the Namibian capital Windhoek, the New Zealand cricket team arrived in Harare on 3 August 2005 for the controversial Zimbabwe leg of the tour

Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Andre Adams and Jeetan Patel joined the team for the one-day triangular series on 20 August.

Time spent in Zimbabwe

   35 days

(3 August - 7 September)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Nathan Astle injured his finger in the Bulawayo Test, so James Marshall was added to the one-day squad, and returned to Zimbabwe on 24 August, but did not play in any of the ODI matches.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§ one-day international

Time spent in Africa / in Zimbabwe before First Test:  4/10  days 

(27? July/ 3 August - 7 August)

Test appearances on tour

2  -   Astle,  Bond,  Fleming,  Franklin,  McCullum,  H Marshall,  J Marshall,  Martin,  Styris,  Vettori,  Vincent.

0  -    Cumming,  Mills,  Oram, Wiseman.

Highlights

•    Recovering from 113 for 5 at lunch, New Zealand scored 452 for 9 on the opening day of  the Test series including centuries from McCullum (111) and Vettori (127)

•   Vettori’s century was scored in 82 balls and was the fastest in Test cricket by a New Zealander

•   Zimbabwe were dismissed twice (for 59 and 99) on the second day of the match

•   Shane Bond had match figures of ten for 99 in the second Test at Bulawayo

•   Bond reached 50 Test wickets in 12 matches, the fastest time for a New Zealand Test player.

•   Lou Vincent scored 172 in the first ODI at Bulawayo, beating Glenn Turner’s NZ record of 171 in 1975

Tour Summary

Return to New Zealand

Harare    Q  Christchurch

Cumming, Franklin, Martin, James Marshall and Wiseman returned to New Zealand on

The team flew out of Harare on 7 September and arrived home in Christchurch on Friday 9 September.

Time away from New Zealand    45 days  

(25 July to 9 September)

Finances

Written accounts of the tour

Postscript

Zimbabwe's return tour to New Zealand was ruled out when the New Zealand government said it would not issue visas. While New Zealand Cricket did not have to pay any compensation or fine, it also ruled New Zealand out of hosting any ICC tournaments including the 2011 World Cup