The battle for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy will continue to recognise a great Australasian cricketing rivalry when the three-match Chappell-Hadlee Trophy ODI series is played in New Zealand for the first time this December.
The annual series between the BLACKCAPS and Australia pays tribute not only to the sporting rivalries between New Zealand and Australia but also to two of Australasia’s most combative cricket dynasties, Australia’s Chappells and New Zealand’s Hadlees.
From a New Zealand perspective, the Hadlee connection goes back to Walter Hadlee, first playing against Australian sides when the 1937 team played South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales on their way home. At the end of the Second World War, in 1945-46, he captained the New Zealand side in a match that was belatedly given Test status two and a half years later.
The connection passed to his sons, Dayle and Richard. Dayle appeared in one-day sides that participated in the annual one-day tournament played among Australian state teams, and also on the tour of 1969-70 when State matches were played against Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales. He returned in 1973-74, in the first Test series between the two countries, which was played on a home and away basis.
Richard Hadlee, who first played in Australia in 1972, also played in that Test series and was to be a thorn in Australian sides for the next 16 years, most notably in 1985-86 when New Zealand won their only series on Australian soil 2-1 and then backed that up with a 1-0 series win in New Zealand.
Both Dayle and Richard were part of the first New Zealand Test team to beat Australia, at Lancaster Park, now Jade Stadium, in 1973-74.
From the Australian perspective, the Chappell connection began when Greg visited New Zealand as part of Sam Trimble’s Australian B side in the summer of 1969-70. He then returned in 1973-74 and played a significant part in the series, setting long-standing partnership records with Ian. Greg then returned in 1976-77 and in 1981-82, the year after the infamous Underarm Match at Melbourne.
Ironically, the most controversial moment in what has been a prickly, but endearing, relationship between the two countries on the field, was the incident that gave most impetus to the cricket relationship. That underarm delivery, bowled by the third member of the Chappell family Trevor, and the catch taken by Martin Snedden but not awarded by the umpires off Greg Chappell, were the greatest contributions to the rivalry between the sides.
When he fronted up as captain after that Chappell literally packed the grounds in New Zealand in 1981-82 and took it all with apparent good grace.
