In an earlier edition of The Numbers Game we recorded the fact that Stephen Fleming had scored more runs than any other player in Test history with the aid of just two hundreds (taking over the record from his current convenor of selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee, during the tour to Zimbabwe.
In the Boxing Day Test at the Basin Reserve, he was joined by Adam Parore who became Test cricket's highest run-getter with the aid of only one century.
Runs Ave 100 50
AC Parore (NZ) 2532 25.32 1 14
TL Goddard (SA) 2516 34.46 1 18
TE Bailey (E) 2290 29.74 1 10
AW Nourse (SA) 2234 29.78 1 15
ADR Campbell (Z) 2157 25.67 1 13
AL Wadekar (I) 2113 31.07 1 14
In the meantime, Fleming has extended his world record tally to 3422 and his second innings of 55 at Wellington gives him two centuries and 27 fifties.
Nathan Astle took 458 minutes to reach his century at Wellington, the fourth slowest by a New Zealand batsman in a Test. The slowest hundreds by New Zealand batsmen in all first-class cricket are:
Mins
516 Jeff Crowe New Zealand v Sri Lanka Colombo 1986/87
464 Michael Austen Otago v Canterbury Christchurch 1996/97
462 Mark Greatbatch New Zealand v Australia Perth 1989/90
461 Martin Crowe New Zealand v Pakistan Lahore 1990/91
458 Nathan Astle New Zealand v Zimbabwe Wellington 2000/01
455 Geoff Howarth New Zealand v England Auckland 1977/78
435 John Guy New Zealand v India Hyderabad 1955/56
434 John Reid Auckland v Northern Districts Hamilton 1987/88
434 Trevor Franklin New Zealand v England Lord's 1990
427 Kevin Burns Otago v Northern Districts Hamilton 1987/88
422 David Boyle Canterbury v Otago Rangiora 1993/94
420 Martin Crowe New Zealand v West Indies Georgetown 1984/85
414 John Wright New Zealand v India Auckland 1980/81
412 John Wright New Zealand v West Indies Wellington 1986/87
404 John Reid New Zealand v Pakistan Wellington 1984/85
Brooke Walker made his home Test debut in the Boxing Day Test, the first time that the New Zealand selectors had picked a leg-spinner for a Test at Wellington since 1967/68 when Jack Alabaster played against India. It was also the first time that a specialist leg-spinner had bowled for New Zealand in a home Test since that series (Jack Alabaster at Auckland).
In fact, it was only the sixth time that New Zealand had ever played a leg-spinner at the Basin Reserve. Those that played achieved the following:
Bill Merritt v England 1929/30 2/94 & 1/41
Cec Burke v Australia 1945/46 2/30
Alec Moir v England 1950/51 2/65 & 0/19
Alec Moir v South Africa 1952/53 0/159
Jack Alabaster v India 1967/68 2/64 & 0/8
Brooke Walker v Zimbabwe 2000/01 0/68 & 0/30
As noted in a previous edition, only nine leg-spinners have ever played Test cricket for New Zealand. Their records are:
Wkts Ave
Bill Merritt 12 51.42
Doug Freeman 1 169.00
Cec Burke 2 15.00
Alex Moir 28 50.64
Bill Bell 2 117.50
Jack Alabaster 49 38.02
Graham Vivian 1 107.00
Greg Loveridge DNB
Brooke Walker 3 100.67
Andrew Penn made history in the fifth round Shell Cup match at Mt Manganui by becoming the first player to twice take six or more wickets in a Shell Cup match. Penn's figures of 8-1-28-7 were the second best of all-time and the more remarkable in that no bowler could bowl more than eight overs in the innings and even then one of his eight was miscounted and consisted of just five deliveries!
The best bowling figures in the Shell Cup are:
Willie Watson 7-23 Auckland v Otago Auckland 1984/85
Andrew Penn 7-28 Wellington v Northern Districts Mt Maunganui 2000/01
Evan Marshall 7-49 Otago v Auckland Dunedin 1993/94
Brian Barrett 6-12 Northern Districts v Otago Gisborne 1986/87
Justin Vaughan 6-26 Auckland v Otago Auckland 1995/96
Murphy Su'a 6-26 Auckland v Central Districts New Plymouth 1995/96
Chris Cairns 6-37 Canterbury v Wellington Christchurch 1997/98
Warren Wisneski 6-43 Canterbury v Auckland Christchurch 1996/97
Andrew Penn 6-49 Central Districts v Northern Districts Napier 1996/97
Two days earlier, Penn had taken 4-28 against Auckland giving him 11-55 in two games. In each game he was on a hat-trick without achieving the feat.
Finally we take a look at what New Zealand players did in first-class cricket in the 2000 calendar year. Most runs were scored by:
Runs Ave
Mark Richardson 1933 62.35
Mathew Sinclair 1192 41.10
Craig McMillan 882 44.10
Glen Sulzberger 843 38.31
Nathan Astle 782 39.10
Stephen Fleming 755 31.45
Matt Horne 732 33.22
Gary Stead 695 53.46
Mark Bailey 671 41.93
James Marshall 667 25.65
Richardson played in 21 matches, the most by any player.
The most wickets were taken by:
Wkts Ave
Shayne O'Connor 63 19.28
Bruce Martin 57 23.43
Daryl Tuffey 56 26.30
Chris Martin 49 26.59
Tama Canning 41 23.56
Brooke Walker 41 31.12
Lance Hamilton 38 21.97
Joseph Yovich 35 26.34
Glen Sulzberger 31 19.61
Paul Wiseman 30 31.43
The most overs were bowled by O'Connor (513), Bruce Martin (503.3) and Walker (496.3).
The highest scores were made by:
Mark Richardson 306 New Zealand v Zimbabwe 'A' Kwekwe
Mark Richardson 212* New Zealand 'A' v Sussex Hove
Tim McIntosh 182 Auckland v Canterbury Christchurch
Mark Richardson 173* New Zealand v Boland Paarl
Blair Pocock 167 Auckland v Wellington Auckland
Glen Sulzberger 159 Central Districts v Wellington New Plymouth
Mathew Sinclair 150 New Zealand v South Africa Port Elizabeth
The best bowling performances came from:
Bruce Martin 7-33 Northern Districts v Auckland Taupo
Daniel Vettori 7-87 New Zealand v Australia Auckland
Warren Wisneski 7-151 Canterbury v Auckland Christchurch
Scott Styris 6-32 Northern Districts v Otago Gisborne
Glenn Jonas 6-35 Otago v Northern Districts Gisborne
Glenn Jonas 6-39 Otago v Central Districts Palmerston North
Daniel Vettori 6-43 New Zealand v Zimbabwe 'A' Kwekwe
Bruce Martin 6-44 Northern Districts v Canterbury Christchurch
David Sewell 6-70 Otago v Central Districts Wanganui
© CricInfo
