Richard Hadlee

Did You Know?

• Hadlee discovered he had Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome six months after retiring and had heart surgery in July 1991.
• He was a competent association football player, playing for southern league team Rangers A.F.C. in Christchurch.
• The Chappell–Hadlee Trophy, contested between New Zealand and Australia in one-day matches, is named after the Hadlee family and the Chappell family.

Test career

Hadlee was primarily a bowler who took 431 wickets in 86 Tests, at the time a world record, and was the first to pass 400 wickets, with an average of 22.29. He also scored 3124 Test runs at 27.16, including two centuries and 15 fifties. Many experts rated him the greatest exponent of bowling with the new ball; he mastered conventional swing and was called the original Sultan of Swing. Despite the presence of contemporaries such as Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Wasim Akram and Malcolm Marshall, Hadlee was seen as one of the finest fast bowlers of his time.

Among the four top all-rounders of his era—the others being Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham—Hadlee had the best bowling average but the lowest batting average. Born in Christchurch, he made his first-class debut for Canterbury in 1971/72 and his Test debut in 1973; on both occasions his first delivery was hit to the boundary. He was inconsistent for several years until a breakthrough performance against India in 1976, taking 11 wickets in a win.

In 1978 he helped New Zealand to a historic first win over England by taking 6 for 26 in England's second innings, bowling them out for 64. In 1979/80, facing a powerful West Indies side at home, Hadlee took 11 wickets in the first Test, which New Zealand won by one wicket; in the second Test he scored his maiden Test century, helping draw the match and win the series 1–0, beginning a 12-year unbeaten home record in Test series. He was appointed an MBE in the 1980 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Nottinghamshire career

Hadlee played for Nottinghamshire from 1978 to 1987, though injuries and Test calls limited him to three full seasons. On often overgrassed Trent Bridge pitches he produced remarkable analyses, including 8 for 22 against Surrey in 1984. In 1981 he took 105 wickets at 14.89; in 1984, 117 wickets at 14.05; and in 1987, 97 wickets at 11.89, the lowest average since 1969. In those three seasons he was voted PCA Player of the Year by his peers.

He won The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for the Leading All-Rounder in English First-Class Cricket in 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1987. In 1984 he completed the county double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in a season, a rare feat in the modern age; only he and his successor Franklyn Stephenson have done so since the number of county games was reduced in 1969. That double included his highest first-class score, 210 not out against Middlesex at Lord's. In 1987 he narrowly missed the double as Nottinghamshire won the County Championship, as they had in 1981. His contributions with bat and ball were immense.

Bowling style

Richard Hadlee bowled right-arm pace. As a young cricketer he was extremely fast, but over time he shortened his run-up, which brought him greater accuracy and more movement both off the pitch and through the air. His outswinger became his most dangerous ball, especially in the later part of his career. The person who shaped him most was Dennis Lillee, whom Hadlee considered the model fast bowler.

When under pressure, Hadlee would imagine what Lillee would do and try to match his resolve. Lillee himself described Hadlee as exceptionally skilled and the first true professional he saw in Test cricket, noting his steady stream of away swingers aimed at off stump, mixed with the occasional inswinger or cutter, a rare bouncer, and an even rarer yorker. Hadlee’s bowling action was efficient, marked by how close he came to the stumps at the bowler’s end—sometimes even knocking off the bails—which helped him trap many batsmen leg before wicket.

He set a new Test wicket record when he took his 374th wicket on 12 November 1988 in Bangalore, India. His 400th Test wicket fell on 4 February 1990, and with his final delivery in Test cricket, on 9 July 1990, he bowled Devon Malcolm for a duck.

The Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust

In August 1990, Hadlee established The Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust to help sportsmen and women in hardship strive for success in their chosen sporting or cultural discipline. Applicants must be under 25, from the Canterbury region of New Zealand, and disadvantaged or facing special circumstances. The trust relies on community generosity and corporate sponsors including CTV, Lion Nathan, Newstalk ZB, Pernod Ricard, Pope Print, PR South and Vbase.