Blair Robert Hartland (born 22 October 1966) is a former New Zealand
cricketer
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
who played nine
Tests
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
and 16
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
s for
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. He was a specialist batsman, who usually opened the innings and bowled a total of three overs in his senior career. The son of former Canterbury cricketer, Ian Hartland, he was also a very talented hockey player.
School times
Attending
Christchurch Boys' High School
, motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things
, type = State school, Day and Boarding school
, gender = Boys
, song = The School We Magnify
, colours = Blue and Black
, established =
, address = 71 Straven R ...
, Hartland was marked out as a talent early on, and aged 19 he was picked for the
New Zealand Young Cricketers, who toured
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in
1985–86.
Personal life
Hartland is married to Nicki and has three children: Emma born , Tessa born , and Benjamin born .
Domestic career
The following season he made his first class debut, playing one game for Canterbury in a drawn domestic game. He made 59 runs for once out, retiring injured in the second innings, and did not return in that season. He also played two seasons of second XI cricket for
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by
two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
and
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
, and in
1988–89 Hartland hit his maiden first class century, in his fourteenth match.
Hartland became a regular fixture in the Canterbury first-class team after that, playing 10 of 11 games in the
1990–91 season, for example. The following season, he was picked as an opening batsman for New Zealand Emerging Players (similar to the current
New Zealand A team) against a touring
England XI.
He played 11 seasons of domestic cricket for
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
, playing 83
first class and 68
List A
List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...
games in total, Hartland also held the record for the most runs in a one-day domestic match, until it was broken by
Brendon McCullum
Brendon Barrie McCullum (born 27 September 1981) is a cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer representing New Zealand, who played all formats, including as captain. McCullum was renowned for his quick scoring, notably recording the f ...
.
International career
When the
English cricket team visited New Zealand in 1991, Hartland opened for the New Zealand Emerging Players team; though he faced 36 balls in his two innings he only made one run for twice out, but that didn't prevent the New Zealand selectors from selecting him for the first Test at his native
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
two weeks later, as New Zealand sought a replacement for the defensive opener
Trevor Franklin who had opened on tour of Sri Lanka a year earlier.
However, Hartland's debut did not yield a good result for New Zealand. England were put in to bat, made 580 for nine
declared, before
spin bowler
Spin bowling is a bowling technique in cricket, in which the ball is delivered slowly but with the potential to deviate sharply after bouncing. The bowler is referred to as a spinner.
Purpose
The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ...
Phil Tufnell
Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell (born 29 April 1966) is a former English international cricketer and current television and radio personality. A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler (cricket), bowler, he played in 42 Test cricket, Test matches and ...
took eleven wickets in the match, including Hartland twice, for 22 in the first innings and then 45 in the second when stumps were drawn on day four. Hartland watched as Tufnell added a further six victims in the second innings, and England secured a victory by an innings and four runs. Hartland was retained for the second Test, however, and recorded a pair of
ducks
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...
as New Zealand went down by 168 runs – before scoring 2 in New Zealand's first innings of the third Test where the team made 432 for 9 declared after a stand of 241 between
John Wright and
Andrew Jones.
Hartland had still not passed fifty in six Test innings, but was still taken on tours of
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in 1992–93, and though he did not play a Test against
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
(with
Mark Greatbatch
Mark John Greatbatch (born 11 December 1963) is a former New Zealand international cricketer. He scored more than 2,000 runs in his 41 Test matches for New Zealand. A left-handed batsman and very occasional right-arm medium pace bowler in first ...
and
Rod Latham
Rodney Terry Latham (born 12 June 1961) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played domestic cricket for Canterbury, and played four Tests and 33 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He also played rugby union for Canterbury. He was born i ...
preferred as openers), he played his first ODI on that tour, scoring five runs from number three in the batting order as New Zealand won by four wickets. Greatbatch and Latham were dropped for Sri Lanka, however, and Hartland was back as opener together with Wright; after he was out to
Dulip Liyanage
Dulip Kapila Liyanage (born 6 June 1972) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He studied at the Kalutara Vidyalaya.
International career
Liyanage made his Test debut in the same Test ...
for 3 in the first innings, and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
had declared 39 runs ahead with five sessions remaining, Hartland batted for four hours in an opening stand worth 110 with Wright, making his maiden Test fifty. New Zealand batted out the match, making 195 for 5 in the second innings to draw the game.
That was enough for Hartland to be picked for the second Test a week later, where he made the second highest score of New Zealand's innings. However, that was only 21, as New Zealand fell from 57 for 0 to 102 all out; following on, Hartland made 21 again as New Zealand made 361, but Sri Lanka took a nine-wicket win and the series by 1–0. Hartland also played two of the three ODIs in the series, recording his maiden ODI fifty, but New Zealand still lost both matches and the series 0–2.
Hartland also played New Zealand's next Test, a home match against
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, but after he once again failed to pass 50 and made 9 in a second-innings chase of 127 to win, where New Zealand were bowled out for 93 by
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several criti ...
(five for 45) and
Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis Maitla HI ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the grea ...
(five for 22) he was dropped and did not play international matches for over a year. When he did return, it was once again against Pakistan, scoring 13 runs in two innings in a five-wicket win for New Zealand. He continued to feature in the New Zealand side for the remainder of the
1993–94 season, making 68
not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
in a successful chase of 146 in a One Day International against Pakistan, but otherwise not passing 25 in one Test and seven One Day Internationals.
Hartland was, however, picked for New Zealand's tour of England in
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
; he played nine matches against first-class sides of the country, but only one Test, his last. Hartland made 6 and 22 in an innings defeat, and was replaced by
Blair Pocock in the next match.
He played a further five ODIs during the
1994–95 season, but after five scores below 50 he was dropped after the
Mandela Trophy
The Mandela Trophy was a one-day International cricket tournament which took place from 2 December 1994 to 12 January 1995. The tournament was hosted by South Africa, who were one of the four sides competing, with the others being New Zealand, ...
. He played a further two seasons for Canterbury before retiring.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartland, Blair
1966 births
Living people
Canterbury cricketers
New Zealand One Day International cricketers
New Zealand Test cricketers
New Zealand cricketers
People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School
South Island cricketers