Legends in clash over 1985 tactics
Two New Zealand cricket legends are still at odds because of a dispute which dates back more than
30 years to one of New Zealand’s finest victories in test cricket.
In 1985 the Black Caps beat Australia 2-1 in a test series on their turf and it remains their only series win against their trans-Tasman rivals.
Black Caps great Sri Richard Hadlee took 33 wickets in three tests and the victory is still celebrated because New Zealand have beaten Australia only once in a test across the ditch since (in Hobart in 2011).
But a feud between two members of that fabled 1985 New Zealand side, then coach Glenn Turner and spinner John Bracewell, has surfaced after the latter spoke to the Otago Daily Times (ODT) about the famous series.
In the second test Australia won by four wickets in Sydney, Bracewell and Stephen Boock shared a 10thwicket partnership in New Zealand’s first innings worth 124 runs, lifting the Kiwis to 293 all out.
Bracewell finished unbeaten on 83 but he has since revealed he missed the team speech before New Zealand went out to bat at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In that speech, Bracewell told the ODT that Turner had ‘‘laid down the law – no sweeping’’. Bracewell missed the message.
‘‘When I got out in the middle, I thought defence was too hard so I took a more aggressive option and just started sweeping,’’ Bracewell said.
Australia went on to win a low-scoring contest but Bracewell was named man of the match for that unbeaten 83 and for taking five wickets.
That partnership with Boock, who scored 37, is still a record 10th-wicket stand in tests between Australia and New Zealand.
However, Turner could not let Bracewell’s revelation pass without chiming in. The pair were also once team-mates at Otago.
In a letter published by the ODT, Turner hit back ‘‘in the interests of accuracy and sound advice for emerging elite batsmen’’.
‘‘In short, sweeping balls in line with the stumps is an unnecessary risk . . . sweeping when the ball is going down the leg side is a different matter.’’
The batting great continued, saying Bracewell’s comments revealed a player ‘‘admitting to a lack of ability or an unwillingness to have practised and mastered some of the basic skills of batting’’.
‘‘However, every team will have lowerorder batsmen who understandably don’t possess the natural talent for the art of batting, in which case they will just do the best they can with what they’ve got and, with luck on their side, be occasionally successful.’’
Turner played 41 tests and is considered one of New Zealand’s greatest batsman. Bracewell, who also went on to coach New Zealand, played the same number of tests and was the second New Zealand cricketer to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in test cricket.
New Zealand are in the middle of their latest test series in Australia but trail 1-0 before the Boxing Day test after losing the opener in Perth by 296 runs.