Here is a list of links that take you to a page showing every cricketer that has played test cricket for their country. This might help with cricket related trivia so be sure to bookmark this site :).
Test Cricket:
The XXXX Gold Beach Cricket Tri-Nations series is a four-round beach cricket competition created and sponsored by Australian beer brand XXXX. It was launched on September 27, 2006, and the event coincided with the 2006-07 Ashes series being played in Australia with the first series being played in January 2007.
The first series involved cricketing legends from Australia, England and the West Indies. It was won by England, who beat Australia in the Grand Final on 4 February 2007. Due to the popularity to the initial series, a new 2008 series was held with teams from Australia, England and New Zealand competing.
2008 saw an additional venue - Glenelg Beach in Adelaide included in the schedule alongside the existing locations of Maroubra Beach in Sydney, Scarborough Beach in Perth and Coolangatta Beach on the Gold Coast.
Network Ten is the host broadcaster of the matches.
The Rules:
The series incorporated rules that are a hybrid of the regular game and that of indoor cricket. As with the regular game boundaries score 6 runs if hit over the perimeter, and 4 if the ball hits the ground before passing or touching the perimeter.
There are eight overs in an innings, with the final two overs declared "Captain's Choice" in which each side's captain is allowed to field the batsmen and bowlers of their own choosing. For the first six overs batsmen and bowlers are swapped out every two overs.
When a batsman is dismissed, he keeps batting — however, he loses runs. A score is decreased by 5 runs when the batsman has been dismissed by two-handed catch, and by 7 runs with a one-handed catch. It is possible to score into negative numbers.
A batsman cannot be dismissed LBW if he plays a shot.
The series uses a plastic drop-in pitch to allow the ball to bounce, and batting and bowling only take place facing one direction. The Coolangatta arena initially featured an open boundary along the surf, allowing fielding to be possible in the water, however this was later removed due to crowd control concerns.
Venues:
The 2007 series venues and dates were:
Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor (born 8 March 1984 in Lower Hutt) is a New Zealand cricketer. He has captained the New Zealand Under-19 side in youth internationals. Taylor has scored 132* in the State Shield in 2003-2004, and 184 in the State Championship in 2004-2005.
International career:
He made his debut for the New Zealand team in international cricket on 1 March 2006, in a one-day match against the West Indies. He became the second male player of Samoan heritage to play for New Zealand after Murphy Su'a.
Taylor has been a dominant batsman on the domestic scene for the past couple of seasons. He is a clean striker of the ball, and a useful off-break bowler. Taylor scored his maiden one day century in front of a delighted crowd in Napier, playing against Sri Lanka on December 28, 2006. Unluckily for him, New Zealand were comprehensively beaten in that game, his innings aside. He also suffered dehydration and required a short hospital trip during the second innings. Taylor hit 84 against Australia in their opening game in the 2007 Commonwealth Bank series.
Taylor's full name is Luteru Ross Poutua Taylor; however, some sources have inaccurately recorded his name as Ross Luteru Taylor. This is because Taylor grew up answering to both Luteru and Ross when playing cricket, and did not realise he needed to write down his full name for the official New Zealand Cricket records when he was asked to fill in a questionnaire at a first-class match early in his career.
Taylor has also played English cricket for Norwich and Coltishall wanderers in Norfolk. He was their key player and he was consistent in hitting runs.
Memorable moments:
His first ODI century came Vs Sri Lanka on 28 December 2006, scoring 128 (not out) off 133 balls. The innings included 12 fours and 6 sixes. Taylor scored his second century in his ODI career on 18 February 2007 against Australia. He scored 117, the 2nd highest score by a New Zealander against Australia.
He scored his maiden Test century on 6 March 2008 at Hamilton in the first Test of the 2007/8 series against England and went on to be the leading runs scorer in the same series.
Currently, he plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and for his domestic team, the Central Districts Stags.
Ross Taylor scored a test match career-best of 154* against England at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in May 2008, including 5 sixes and 17 fours.
More information about Ross Taylor can be found at these links:
With the Aussies losing their last Test series against the Indians, it has been said that they will be a bit vulnerable against their trans Tasman rivals the Black Caps. While the Black caps have a relatively in experienced side who knows what suprises they could pull out of their magic Black Cap.
Imagine what will happen if the Kiwis defeat the Aussies. We havnt won a test series since 1985 when the great Richard Hadlee was perhaps in his prime and took legendary bowling figures of 15 for 123 in the Brisbane test that series (where New Zealand ultimately won 2-1). Since that series it has not beaten Australia in 18 test matches. It has, though, never been cowed psychologically in the manner of more talented England, Pakistan and South Africa teams. Being unimpressed by Australia and its sports teams is part of the New Zealand national psyche.
Perhaps if the Kiwis manage to pull off a miraculous series win they will be instilled with immense confidence and who knows what that could do for cricket in New Zealand, perhaps produce more talent they really need and to maybe become the next "Australia" in world cricket. They will only achieve that with more consistent performances and the ability to psychologically outsmart the opposition.
Jesse Daniel Ryder (born 6 August 1984) in Masterton is a New Zealand cricketer. A left-handed middle-order batsman and right-arm medium bowler, he plays Test and One Day International cricket for New Zealand. He has previously represented his country in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup of 2002. Ryder plays his domestic cricket with Wellington after crossing there from Central Districts in 2004 and is a member of their first-class and List A teams.
In late May 2007 announced that he was considering changing his allegiance to England due to his frustration at not getting full international honours for New Zealand. Later that month, Ryder backtracked on his earlier comments and currently remains dedicated to playing cricket for New Zealand.
Since both of Ryder's grandfathers were English and his father was originally from England, he would in fact qualify as a non-overseas player in the English County Championship.
Ryder first gained national selection in December 2007, representing the New Zealand XI against Bangladesh in a Twenty/20 charity match. The New Zealand XI contained nine Black Caps and two up-and-coming players, Ryder and Tim Southee. Unfortunately due to injury he was unable to play the match.
On January 30 2008, Ryder was chosen in the 12-man Twenty20 squad and the 13-man ODI squad to play England. New Zealand Cricket Selection Manager, Richard Hadlee said "Jesse has the potential to provide an explosive start alongside Brendon McCullum at the top of the innings in both forms of the game." Ex-cricketer Adam Parore subsequently hit out at the selector's decision to pick Ryder, claiming that he is "too fat" and "in no fit state to play for New Zealand."
In his first two Twenty20 games for NZ against England, Ryder scored 22 and 12 as New Zealand went on to lose both games heavily. In his first two ODI games Ryder scored 31 and 79* in vastly improved New Zealand performance. In the second ODI, he and Brendan McCullum set a new partnership record for any wicket against England with a combined total of 165 in 18.1 overs and New Zealand won by ten wickets. The previous record was Martin Crowe and Geoff Howarth's 160 at Eden Park in 1984. McCullum scored more runs (80*) off less balls (47) but Ryder (79* off 62) was named player of the match.
Ryder's 2007/08 season ended on 24 February 2008 when he badly cut his hand trying to break into a toilet at a Christchurch bar at 5:30am the day after NZ had won the one day series against England. NZ Cricket's general manager, Lindsay Crocker said:
"...this behaviour is unacceptable and we will have a serious discussion with him to ensure situations like this do not occur in the future. ...Ryder will pay for the damage and apologise to the bar owner. No further disciplinary action will be taken as Jesse's injuries should serve as enough of a lesson on this occasion."
It was later revealed that Ryder had been drinking until 1:30am the night before the fifth ODI against England (Ryder scored 24) and had been rude to staff at Christchurch hospital, demanding preferential treatment when he was being treated for his hand injury.
*Acknowledgements to owners of pictures and videos used.
Here is a schedule of the games that are going to be played by New Zealand at home during the 2007/2008 home summer season. Make sure you proudly show your support for your favourite teams and make this summer of cricket an entertaining occasion, and who knows, you could be made famous by showing some enthusiasm and dedicated support for your team.
If you are a BlackCaps supporter lets attend the games' dressed in black and on mass and let Bangladesh, West Indies and India know that we are a force to be reckoned with!
Here is the Black Cap's home schedule for the home summer season of 2008/2009:
2008:
West Indies in NZ
Test
Dec 11-15: New Zealand v West Indies Dunedin
Dec 19-23: New Zealand v West Indies Napier
Twenty20
Dec 26: New Zealand v West Indies Auckland
Dec 28: New Zealand v West Indies Hamilton
2009
One-day matches
Dec 31 New Zealand v West Indies Queenstown
Jan 3 New Zealand v West Indies Christchurch
Jan 7 New Zealand v West Indies Wellington
Jan 10 New Zealand v West Indies Auckland
Jan 13 New Zealand v West Indies Napier
India in NZ
Twenty 20
Mar 6 New Zealand v India Wellington
One-day matches
Mar 8 New Zealand v India Napier
Mar 11 New Zealand v India Hamilton
Mar 14 New Zealand v India Auckland
Mar 17 New Zealand v India Wellington
Mar 20 New Zealand v India Christchurch
First class match
Mar 22-24 New Zealand v India Lincoln, Canterbury
Test Matches
Mar 26-30 New Zealand v India Hamilton
Apr 3-7 New Zealand v India Wellington
Timothy Grant Southee (born 11 December 1988 in Whangarei, New Zealand) is a New Zealand cricketer. He is a right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays international cricket for New Zealand and State Championship cricket for Northern Districts and plays for Northland in the Hawke Cup. He made his first-class debut on 19 February 2007 at the age of eighteen.
After an impressive start to his career with Northern Districts, Southee was picked to play for a New Zealand side in a Twenty20 match against a Bangladesh side on December 23, 2007. The game was a charity match for cyclone relief in Bangladesh.
On 30 January 2008, Southee was named in the New Zealand squad for two Twenty20 International games and three One Day International games against England. New Zealand Cricket Selection Manager, Sir Richard Hadlee said:
"Why delay producing a player of some talent? Perhaps I could compare him with Brendon McCullum when he started (in 2002) - he had a lot of potential. It might take a lot of time for Tim to find his feet but why wait two or three years when someone is in a special category? The feed back we're getting is that this guy has got it. "He runs in relatively straight, he gets through his action nicely and he moves the ball, particularly away from the batsman."
He made his official international debut on 5 February 2008 in the first Twenty20 match. In the second match, Southee was New Zealand's best bowler with figures of 2/22 from four overs.
Southee then traveled to Malaysia to play in the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, where he finished as Player-of-the-Tournament after taking 17 wickets at 6.64 with an economy rate of 2.52 runs per over.
After an injury ruled Kyle Mills out of the third Test match of England's tour, Southee was picked to make his Test match debut on 22 March 2008 at Napier. He had an immediate impact in the first day's play, dismissing Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss in his second and third overs, and then later claiming the wicket of Kevin Pietersen. On the second day's play he took the two wickets needed to complete a debut five-wicket haul, finishing with 5-55. During New Zealand's second innings against England, whilst chasing an improbable target of 553, Southee launched an attack on the England bowlers hitting nine sixes and four fours, with his debut fifty coming off twenty-nine balls. The fifty was the fastest in New Zealand test history, replacing Ian Smith's previous record of thirty four balls. He eventually finished on 77* from 40 balls. Only four other test cricketers have hit more sixes in an innings, Wally Hammond, Nathan Astle, Matthew Hayden and Wasim Akram.
See more info on the talented Tim Southee by right clicking HERE
*Acknowledgements to Wikipedia org and others.
Hi everyone,
Just would like to make a tribute to all the cricketers (and everyone else also) that fought during the World Wars and perished in combat. They were indeed hardy souls that fought well for their country and theres no doubt in my mind that anyone that perished would have made a fine cricketer, as by fighting in the World Wars they showed immense spirit, determination, and comradeship that any dedicated cricketer today would be very proud of. Much respect should go out to these guys (and women) that fought to fight for the protection of our countries (and perhaps also the future of the game of cricket as well), and we should all remember them and their personal sacrifice they made. Theres no doubt that "above" they will still be playing cricket without the fear of being killed in the line of duty and for the ones that didn't play cricket, they are in a better place and will always have my respect. Thankyou fallen war heroes, if it wasn't for you cricket might not even exist to this day, or perhaps in a much broader view, maybe not life...
Jacob David Philip Oram (born 28 July 1978, Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand) is a New Zealand cricketer. He is a big hitting left-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. Because of his abilities with both bat and ball, he is a regular fixture in the current New Zealand test and one day sides. He usually bats around 6 or 7 for New Zealand. Oram's bowling has been more successful in the shorter format: he has reached as high as 5 in the ICC ODI Player Rankings as a bowler. Standing at 1.98m (6ft 6 in), he was a schoolboy representative as a soccer goalkeeper. He has also played for Manawatu in the Hawke Cup.
He plays for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
More details about his career statistics and everything else can be found by right clicking HERE
Here is a brilliant example of his hard hitting and punishing batting --->>
Shane Edward Bond (born 7 June 1975 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a New Zealand cricketer. He has represented New Zealand in Test match, One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket as well as playing for Canterbury in New Zealand domestic cricket and Warwickshire in English domestic cricket. Bond is a right-arm fast bowler.
Bond's career has been plagued with injuries, chiefly recurring stress fractures of the back. He had surgery in 2004 to try and prevent further injury, but it was only partially successful. In recent years he has suffered back problems, knee injuries and an abdominal tear. These problems, in conjunction with a late start to his fully professional cricket career, have limited his appearances in both international and domestic cricket. Since his debut in the 2001/02 season, he has only managed to appear in 17 Test matches for New Zealand.
His international career is currently on hold, and may possibly be finished, after he initially signed for, and consequently played for the Delhi Giants in, the 'rebel' Indian Cricket League during March 2008, causing the New Zealand cricket board to terminate his central contract in January 2008. His decision to take part in the Indian Cricket League has also affected his future in domestic cricket, with it currently still unclear as to whether he will be able to fulfill a contract to play cricket in England for Hampshire during 2008.
Bond is a fast bowler capable of regularly bowling at speeds in excess of 145 km/h. He was first recorded breaking the 150km/h barrier in the 2001/02 season. In contrast to some other fully fast bowlers, Bond combines pace with control and accuracy, assets which have seen him find success in all forms of the game.
Limiting the statistics to players who have bowled at least 1000 balls, he holds the record for the best strike rate (27.5) in ODI's and has the third best average (19.32). In Tests, limiting the statistics to player who have bowled at least 2000 balls, his Test strike rate, (38.9), currently ranks fourth in the all-time list and his average (22.39) currently sits at number 40. Amongst current players who have bowled over 2000 balls in Tests, only Stuart Clark, Muttiah Muralitharan and Dale Steyn have better averages.
Bond usually bats quite far down the batting order, at number nine or later, but he is capable of slogging some quick runs towards the end of an innings.
Bond made his first-class debut for Canterbury on 20 January 1997, in a match against Central Districts. He was relatively old when he made his first-class debut, at 21 years and 7 months old, and for the first few years of his career he played relatively little first-class cricket, playing only 12 matches for Canterbury in his first three seasons. His bowling figures in his first three seasons were solid but unspectacular. Bond stopped playing cricket professionally for one year after he joined the New Zealand Police in November 1999, which left him no time to pursue his cricket career. He returned to play several games for Canterbury in the 2000/01 season and had reasonable success despite his year off. He was handed his first international opportunity early in the 2001/02 season, and from then, due to injuries and international commitments he was mainly unavailable to play for Canterbury, and only appeared in eight State Championship and ten State Shield games in seven seasons.
He made a brief appearance in English county cricket in the 2002 season, representing Warwickshire in three County Championship games, finding moderate success with the ball. He has signed to return to England to play for Hampshire in the 2008 season, but whether he will be able to play due to his association with the Indian Cricket League is still not decided.
Bond appeared in seven Twenty20 games for the Delhi Giants during the March/April 2008 version of the league, but had little success, only taking two wickets at 86.50.
Bond enjoyed strong success against Australia during his career. On 26 January 2002, Shane Bond bowled New Zealand to victory over Australia, getting 5/25. In the Cricket World Cup, Bond achieved 6/23 again against Australia (New Zealand's best bowling performance in ODIs at the time)[citation needed] - which including being on a hat-trick after getting Damien Martyn and Brad Hogg in consecutive deliveries. Bond struggled with a number of back problems which cause soft tissue to break.[citation needed] These injuries had ruled him out in a lot of international cricket in the past.
Against India, Bond saved New Zealand from defeat with a spell of 6/19, including the wickets of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. These are the best One Day International bowling performances by a New Zealander to date.[citation needed]
In a Test match against the West Indies, Bond took 5-69, his fourth 5-wicket haul in just 13 International Tests Matches, and went on to win the man of the match award. He stated that this was one of his best ever bowling efforts. New Zealand went on to defeat the West Indies by 27 runs.[citation needed]
On 14 January 2007, Bond took a hat-trick in the last over against Australia in a one-day international at the Bellerive Oval, dismissing Cameron White, Andrew Symonds and Nathan Bracken in successive deliveries, becoming just the second New Zealand player to take a hat-trick in limited-overs international cricket, although the game was still lost by 105 runs.
A graph showing Bond's test career bowling statistics and how they have varied over time.Shortly Afterwards on 23 January 2007 Bond became the second-fastest bowler in history to take 100 One-Day wickets, behind Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq by one match. Bond, however, needed 54 fewer deliveries to achieve the feat, and was the fastest bowler to take 100 wickets in terms of number of deliveries bowled.[citation needed]
On 16 February 2007, Bond took 5-23, his fourth 5-wicket haul, in the 2007 Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. This enabled New Zealand to dismiss Australia for 149, giving the New Zealanders a 10-wicket victory over them, the Australians' heaviest one day defeat, and although he sat out the final game in the Chappell-Hadlee series, he was instrumental in the eventual 3-0 series win for the first time in Chappell-Hadlee Trophy history.[citation needed]
On May 16, 2007, Shane Bond was named New Zealand cricketer of the year for the 2006/2007 season and the best bowler for that season. In September Bond was named in the ICC's best performing test side over the past year.
A breath of fresh air since his introduction to Test cricket on the Australian tour of 2001-02, Shane Bond has given New Zealand a rare fast-bowling option. He is among the fastest bowlers in the world, and with his arrival the potency of the attack has increased. The quickest New Zealander to reach 50 one-day international wickets, including a national best of 6 for 22 against Australia in the 2003 World Cup, his potential is only limited by his susceptibility to injury, having suffered crippling stress-fractures in his feet and back. These injuries forced him to miss out on all cricket from May 2003, including a proposed stint with Warwickshire in the English County Championship that year. However, after passing a fitness test, he was picked for the tour of England in 2004, but flew home during the second Test after failing to recover from his back injury. His fast, inswinging yorker commands the respect of the best batsmen in the game - but only when he's fit. He took 13 wickets at 9.23 against Zimbabwe in 2005, including 10 for 99 in the second Test at Bulawayo - his first ten-wicket haul - and in the process became the quickest among all New Zealand bowlers to get to 50 Test wickets, achieving the mark in only his 12th match. Unsurprisingly, he again broke down and was out of the game for another nine months with a knee injury. Another comeback was cut short when back problems kept him out of the first Champions Trophy game in 2006 but he returned again and was destructive in the CB Series in Australia. His sore back surfaced once more in Australia but he overcame it and continued his outstanding form against the world champions. His 5 for 23 in the first game of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in February 2007 augured well for Bond's second World Cup. He picked up 13 wickets in the tournament and finished as the most economical bowler. However, frequent injuries interrupted Bond's career and the fast bowler joined the lucrative Indian Cricket League in 2008. The New Zealand board reacted to this move by terminating Bond's national contract although they did not rule out the possibility of his return. 
The New Zealand cricket team, also known as the Black Caps, played their first Test in 1929-30 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth Test nation. It took the team until 1955-56 to win a Test, against the West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland. They played their first ODI in the 1972-73 season against Pakistan in Christchurch.
The current Test captain is Daniel Vettori. He replaces the Black Caps' most successful captain, Stephen Fleming who led New Zealand to 28 Test victories, more than twice as many as any other captain. Vettori lost his first match as captain (vs South Africa) by 358 runs, New Zealand's worst ever defeat by runs.
The New Zealand cricket team became known as the Black Caps in January 1998, after its sponsor at the time, Clear Communications, held a competition to choose a name for the team.
As of October 2007, the New Zealand team has played 332 Test matches, winning 18.67%, losing 39.45% and drawing 41.86% of its games.
DOMESTIC TEAMS:
New Zealand Cricket involves the following first-class teams:
·Auckland Aces
·Canterbury Wizards
·Central Districts Stags
·Northern Districts Knights
·Otago Volts
·Wellington Firebirds
CRICKET DEVELOPMENT:
New Zealand Cricket has established High Performance Cricket training centre based at Lincoln University. It also operates a grassroots development programme for school children called 'MILO Kiwi Cricket' . John Wright, former NZ opening batsman, was appointed acting high performance manager for NZC in November 2007.
New Zealand has many private cricket academies and the Bracewell Cricket Academy based at Rathkeale College is one of the largest cricket academies, providing an Overseas Cricket Development Programme, a Pre-Season Coaching Camp, a Festival of Cricket.
There are around 100,000 registered cricketers in New Zealand. By way of comparison, Australia and the U.K. have around 500,000 each. According to Mark O'Neill, New Zealand's batting coach from 2007-09, the competition at club level in NZ is nowhere near as intense as in Australia.
"In Sydney there are 20 first grade teams, each club has five grades. To get to first grade you've got to be a friggin' good player and once you get there the competition is very, very fierce. Unfortunately it's not the same standard [in NZ]. Competition is everything and the only way the New Zealand guys are going to get that is to play the world's best players."
TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
World Cup
·1975: Semi Finals
·1979: Semi Finals
·1983: First round
·1987: First round
·1992: Semi Finals
·1996: Quarter Finals
·1999: Semi Finals
·2003: 5th Place
·2007: Semi Finals
Mini World Cup
·ICC Knockout 1998: Quarter Finals
·ICC Knockout 2000: Won
·ICC Champions Trophy 2002: First round
·ICC Champions Trophy 2004: First round
·ICC Champions Trophy 2006: Semi Finals
Twenty20 World Championship
·2007: Semi Finals
Commonwealth Games
·1998: Bronze medal
World Championship of Cricket
·1985: Fourth
Austral-Asia Cup
·1986: Semi Finals
·1990: Semi Finals
·1994: Semi Finals
TOURNAMENT VICTORIES:
·ICC Knock-Out Trophy Nairobi Gymkhana Club Nairobi Kenya 2000. New Zealand beat India in the final.
·2003 Bank Alfala Series Trophy held in Sri Lanka (New Zealand, Pakistan,Sri Lanka)
·2004 NatWest Series Trophy held in England (West Indies, England,New Zealand).
·2005 Videocon TriSeries held in Zimbabwe (India, Zimbabwe,New Zealand).
WORLD RECORDS:
·Richard Hadlee, one of New Zealand and the world's best all-rounders, took the world record for most Test wickets (374) vs India at Bangalore in 1988. He lost the record to Kapil Dev. Hadlee was the first bowler to reach 400 Test wickets vs India at Christchurch in 1990
·Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe held the highest ever 3rd-wicket partnership in Tests which at the time was the highest partnership for any wicket.
·Brian Hastings and Richard Collinge together scored 151 runs for the highest ever 10th-wicket partnership against Pakistan in 1973.
·Nathan Astle scored Test cricket's fastest ever double century versus England Christchurch 2002. He scored 200 off 153 balls with the second hundred coming off just 39 deliveries. He was eventually out for 222 — the dreaded double Nelson. He knocked the first hundred off 114 balls. Astle smashed the record by 59 balls, previously held by Adam Gilchrist Australia vs South Africa Johannesburg 2002).
·Geoff Allott holds the record for the longest time taken to score a duck. South Africa Auckland 1999. He faced 77 balls in 101 minutes for his zero score.
·Danny Morrison held another "unwanted" record for the most ducks in Test cricket(24)
. He lost the record to Courtney Walsh.
·Chris Cairns and his father Lance Cairns are one of the two father-son combination to each claim 100 Test wickets, South Africa's Peter and Shaun Pollock being the other.
·Chris Cairns held the record for the most Test sixes. He passed Viv Richards record of 84 (vs England, Lord's, London, 2004) and retired from Test cricket with 87. He has since been passed by both Adam Gilchrist (the current record holder) and Brian Lara.
·Chris Harris is the only New Zealand cricketer to have taken 200 wickets in ODIs. (vs England, Lord's, London, 2004). He is only the second player in ODIs to complete the 4000 run / 200 wicket double. (The other is Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya). He holds the record for the most ODI caught and bowled dismissals, with 29.
·Fast bowler Shane Bond holds the best strike rate in the history of One Day International cricket of 26.5 (one player out for every 26.5 balls bowled).
·John Bracewell became the first - and so far only - substitute fielder to take four catches in a One-Day International, vs Australia in Adelaide on 23 November 1980.
·The New Zealand team holds the dubious honour of the record for the most consecutive Test series played without a win - 30 series between 1929-30 and 1969-70 (40 years), comfortably ahead of Bangladesh on 16 series.
·Another unenviable distinction is the largest margin defeat in the Cricket World Cup, by 215 runs, by Australia. (April 2007).
Notable
·New Zealand dismissed Zimbabwe (Harare 2005) twice in the same day for totals of 59 and 99. Zimbabwe became only the second team (after India Manchester 1952) to be dismissed twice in the same day. The whole Test was completed inside two days.
·Daniel Vettori scored NZ's fastest Test century. (vs Zimbabwe Harare 2005). Vettori needed only 82 balls to reach the 100 mark.
·In the same match, he became the third NZ cricketer (after Richard Hadlee and Chris Cairns) to take more than 200 Test wickets.
·Lou Vincent holds the record for the highest one-day cricket innings by a New Zealander of 172 (vs Zimbabwe Bulawayo 2005). The previous best was Glenn Turner 171 not out (vs East Africa Birmingham 1975). Vincent and captain Stephen Fleming broke the New Zealand one-day opening partnership record against all countries. Their total of 204 beat Fleming and Nathan Astle's 193 (vs Pakistan Dunedin 2000-2001). The team total of 397 was just one run short of the then record one-day total of 398 (Sri Lanka vs Kenya Kandy 1996).
·Brendon McCullum scored the fastest World Cup (2007) fifty (off 20 balls) for New Zealand against Canada, beating Mark Boucher's 21-ball record set against the Netherlands six days earlier.
·In a match for the New Zealanders (i.e., the New Zealand national team playing a tour match against non-test opposition) at Scarborough, Yorkshire, in 1986 vs the D.B. Close XI, Ken Rutherford scored 317 runs off just 245 balls, including 228 runs in boundary fours and sixes. In terms of balls faced, this is almost certainly one of the four fastest first-class triple-centuries ever recorded.
EXTERNAL RELATED LINKS:
The Underarm Incident of 1981:
Cricket is a game that never has fully escaped the subject of controversy. No longer can cricket fans expect a controversy-free tournament or series. Take for instance examples like the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Bob Woolmer, Match-fixing (perhaps made famous by Hansie Cronje and co), Ball Tampering, Chucking, and one incident that has entrenched itself into the annals of cricketing history, one Australia in particular would love to remember and one New Zealand wouldn’t, is of course The Underarm Incident of 1981.
An infamous incident in a game of cricket, involving an underarm delivery occurred on February 1, 1981 when Australia was playing New Zealand in a One Day International, the third of five matches in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.In the February 1981 underarm delivery incident, the batsman at the non-striker's end, Bruce Edgar, was on 102 not out at the time and his innings has been called "the most overlooked century of all time".
The match had earlier controversy: in the Australian innings, Martin Snedden took a spectacular low outfield catch off the batting of Greg Chappell when he was on 52. It was disallowed by the umpires, although TV replays clearly showed it was a clean catch. Some commentators believed Chappell should have taken Snedden's word that the catch was good. Chappell went on to score 90, before he was caught by Bruce Edgar in similar fashion. This time Chappell walked.In the confusion, one of the fielders (Dennis Lillee) forgot to walk into place, meaning that the underarm ball was technically a no-ball, because Australia had one too many fielders outside the field restriction line.
The delivery--->
New Zealand needed six runs to tie the match from the final ball, with eight wickets down. The Australian captain (Greg Chappell) ordered the bowler (his brother, Trevor Chappell) to bowl underarm: rolling the ball along the ground to avoid the possibility that the No. 10 New Zealand batsman (Brian McKechnie) would score a six from the last ball to tie the match.
Immediate reaction
Australia won the game, but boos were heard from the crowd and the New Zealand batsmen marched off in disgust. Since that day the underarm bowling incident has been a source of discussion, both heated and jocular, between Australians and New Zealanders.
It was described as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of cricket" by the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rob Muldoon, who also said that "It was an act of cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the Australian team were wearing yellow".
The reaction in Australia from then Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, called the act "contrary to the traditions of the game". Commentating for Channel 9 at the time, Richie Benaud described the act as "disgraceful" and called it "one of the worst things I have ever seen done on a cricket field".
Brian McKechnie bears no ill will over the incident but both Chappell brothers have publicly stated their embarrassment over the incident and, over 25 years later, are still reluctant to discuss it. Unfortunately for Trevor Chappell, this incident is what he is best remembered for. As a direct result of the incident, underarm bowling was banned in limited overs cricket by the International Cricket Council as not within the spirit of the game.New Zealand cricketer Warren Lees recounted the underarm incident on New Zealand's 20/20 current-affairs show, on Thursday 17 February 2005. He said for long after the affair there was silence in the dressing room, which was broken suddenly and unexpectedly by fellow player Mark Burgess smashing a tea cup.
On February 17, 2005, 24 years after the original underarm delivery, Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath light-heartedly revisited the incident in the first ever Twenty20 international, played between Australia and New Zealand. In the last over of the match, a grinning McGrath pretended to bowl an underarm delivery to Kyle Mills which prompted New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden to produce a mock red card. This drew a large reception from the crowd, which was mostly made up of New Zealand fans, and echoed the good spirits in which the whole game had been played.
Here is a video about the Underarm Incident, its well worth watching! --->
*With thanks and acknowledgements to Wikipedia.com, Youtube.com, Cricinfo.com
Just would like to say what an excellent and clinical performance by the New Zealand side in the 2nd ODI against England in 12/2/08. England succumbed to their 4th 10 wicket loss in recent times and whoever underestimated New Zealand before the ODI serious were hugely mistaken and I say they probably were humiliated. We thoroughly deserved to win and in that performance we justified our top 3 position in the world in ODI cricket. It goes to show that any side that showed the guts and determination as the kiwis' done can achieve anything. A great account of this match can be viewed by going HERE. Scorecard.
Player Profile(#3)...John Davison (Canada)
Canada...They have Ice Hockey, NBA Basketball, some of the most tranquil and awe-inspiring scenery in the world, and they also have the largest coastline of any country on the planet. They are also famous for maple syrup...and John Davison!
The hard-hitting Australian-born batsman and off-spin bowler has been a core member of the Canadian National side for the best part of a decade now, and gained notoriety at the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa where he blasted the fastest World Cup century (111 off 73 balls) ever against a West Indian side, who were unwitting of him and under-estimated the powerful arsenal of cricket shots he was capable of. In the same tournament he also demolished New Zealand’s bowling attack (Jacob Oram in particular was a victim of his huge hitting) by smashing his way to the 3rd fastest 50 in World Cup history. It was also in the controversy-filled 2007 World Cup in the West Indies (*I have to note how shambolic the Final between Australia and Sri Lanka was, no doubt many people thought it was a disgrace to the game, I mean how on earth can any cricket player see a dirty-coloured white cricket ball in almost pitch black conditions?! Oh and the Bob Woolmer incident as well...*) where he sparked to life the memories of the previous World Cup when he carted the New Zealand bowling attack to all parts of the Gros Islet ground in making a blistering 52 off 31 balls.
His cricketing career seeds started to grow in the big backyard they call Australia. In his youth there he played grade cricket in Melbourne and progressed on to the Australian Cricket Academy in 1993. The following step in his career was when he started playing domestic cricket in Australia for Victoria, however he was unable to secure a regular spot in the team and when he left the side he joined South Australia in 2002-2003. It was in 1999 where the cricketing career of John Davison (also known as Davo) lifted another level when he was asked if he had the desire to be the player-coach for the Canadian national side and was soon rushed into the national side within the blink of an eye. He was a key player in their 2001 and 2005 ICC Trophy campaign when they finished 3rd in both tournaments (which were vital for the Canadians gaining entry into the 2003 and 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup).
The now experienced cricketer for Canada was appointed Captain to the side in 2004 and he really proved his class in the following year during a match against the USA in the Intercontinental Cup by taking match figures of 17 for 137, the best since the great Jim Laker in 1956. He also made a good contribution with the bat by hitting an excellent 84. It was in the season of 2004-2005 when his passion for the Canadian side was truly shown when his Last game for South Australia was played in that season and he wanted to devote his time to Canadian Cricket.
John Davison is a brilliant cricketer and when one thinks about it he is like the big salmon that Australia mistakenly let go through the gaps, imagine the status he could’ve got if he played for Australia? No doubt the Canadians are glad to have such a brilliant cricketer as him in their ranks, and maybe it’s going to be John Davison who can help Canadian Cricket’s talent to flourish and grow further, and for them to be more competitive against the heavyweights of international cricket. 
Heres a video to show that on their day Canada can play some really good cricket -->
*Acknowledgements to Cricinfo.com
Hi everyone,
I have decided to introduce Player Profiles to my blog-site. I randomly pick players from each cricket nation and it doesn't matter whether they play test cricket or not, no cricketing nation will be excluded, however due to the number of cricketing nations out there (in excess of 100), having a player profile from each country will take some time, so please be patient :)
The 1st player profile is going to be about Chris Cairns. Chris Cairns was a very accomplished cricketer in both the One-Day and the Test arena's. His career was blighted by numerous injuries, paticulary his back and knees. His career would've been longer if these injuries did not plague him the way they did. Here are some information and statistics about his career below:
Chris Cains brilliant century against India in the final of the 2000 ICC Champions Trophy -->
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Christopher Lance Cairns (Chris) Developed from a rebel in his early days in cricket to being something of a senior statesman, which was noticed by the role he played in the players' strike of 2002. It was him that played one of the key roles in ending that strike.
On his day he was one of the top all-rounders in the world ( he was Wisden Cricketer of the year in 2000), when he was fit that is. He had a brilliant career full of many highlights, but unfortunately some low-lights, of which some were factors that physically blighted his career.
Some of his many highlights include beating Sir Viv Richards record for the most 6's in a Test career (he got 87 in total). He achieved this landmark at Lords in the 2004 Test series in England, and in 2000 he played a man-of-the-match key role in helping New Zealand to win the Champions Trophy final in Nairobi, scoring 104 n.o. It was said he batted with one leg which was due to a knee injury he had at the time. His efforts in that game typified the type of cricketer he was, a very gutsy, determined one who always gave his best even through the struggles and rough times. He also played superbly in the 2001/2002 V.B series in Australia involving the host, New Zealand and South Africa. The New Zealand side managed to tame Australia throughout the series to reach the final against the Africans but of which the latter overcame the New Zealand side. I still think it was a brilliant series by N.Z, and also Chris Cairns.
He also played county Cricket in Nottinghamshire (in England) from 1989 to 1996 and returned for a second stint in 2003. He was a dedicated player for them also, and was highly regarded amongst his peers there (and also in his national side).
Then it was on January 22nd 2006 he retired from all levels of cricket ( although he later joined the non-sanctioned Indian Cricket League in 2007), at a press conference that was full of emotion. The Twenty20 game against the West Indies on February 16th 2006 was his Last game for any New Zealand side. He will be remembered as a cricketing great and he will go down in history as one of the best all-rounders in cricket.
To see his career statistics, Click HERE I used material from Cricinfo to research a little on Chris Cairns history.
The next player profile article will be of a recent retiree, stay tuned to find out who this is :)
just want to say does anyone think the nz cricket side is in the state of decline? ive noticed ever since retirements of some of our greats eg chris carins, nathan astle, craig mcmillian etc we have been putting in substandard performaces, and I feel bad for saying that because I'm a supporter of nz cricket and I'm still supporting them through any time, although I can say they could try better. However I know I have to take into account that in the one day game stephen flemings retirement and the replacement of a captain that has held the reins of a national side for the best part of a decade would have an impact on the side and the intriduction of a new captain can be probably a bit testing as new leadership styles come into play. I rate daniel vettori very highly but havnt seem much of his captaining skills yet, but lets hope and pray for his success and for him to be a genuine bona fide captain. Who knows we will pick up our game again? Us and the rest of the world need to catch up to the leading cricket nation which is australia. beyond the top 3 or 4 there seems to be a huge gulf between australia and the rest of the world and new zealand needs to catch up to them and so does the rest of the world. i mean i admire the australian team in general but will always back new zealand, we cant have australia dominating world cricket for eternity can't we?
I probably have rambled on a bit, but yeh thats just my opinion, ive sent emails to minnow cricket associations suggesting ways to further their development abd ideas on how to obtain funding from organisations like the i.c.c and promoting cricket as an elegant game yet has the sense of gusto, high paced, action packed and energy filled game. Maybe for the top countries they could have tri/quad tournaments (i'm not just talking about world cups and tournaments that only invite minnow countries to participate every 2 to 4 years) regularly that enable the participation of minnow nations (eg canada, ireland, netherlands etc) to face higher leveled competition which definetly would help enhance their game, and letting some of their countryman play in top domestic level cricket in the leading cricket nations. it might be too much of a big ask but its an idea that i think could work (given some planning and detail and logistics etc).
I can compare the 1999, 2003 and 2007 world cups and the minnow sides have greatly increased in their skills on the field, which is a good effort from them. was very suprised when ireland upset pakistan at the world cup and made the quarterfinals! they played with energy and pride and also with alot pf passion, and any team that has those attributes will succeed in their future ambitions.
Right back to new zealand cricket... a few years ago i had this dream (it sounds weird but i remember the exact date) that on the canterbury plains their was a huge cricket complex built, with 3 state of the art cricket stadiums with catering facilities, hotel complexes within the stadium complex, it was kind of like a mini town devoted to cricket, it was so real it was that weird. it was an awesome sight i just wish new zealand had a bigger population base so the infrastructure could be supported financially, perhaps countries like australia, south africa, england,especially india and pakistan (depending on the current wars on terrorism over there) could better support such a facility.
Speaking of the current terrorism conflicts, i think they are destroying the game of cricket ( in india, pakistan, the middle east, sri lanka etc)there have been some cricketing greats from those regions. what could the cricketing big bodies to to help the situation? its a hard one because theres alot of politics involved and i can understant why the cricketing big bodies are a bit cagey about things. lets just hope that things will get better.
Cheers for listening in!
Rob
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