Graham Ellery Vivian (born 28 February 1946) is a former New Zealand

cricket 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 ...

er who played in five

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

and one

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 ...

(ODI) from 1965 to 1972. He made his Test match debut without previously playing in a first-class match. His father,

Giff Vivian Henry Gifford Vivian (4 November 1912 – 12 August 1983) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in seven Test matches between 1931 and 1937. Cricket career After attending Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland,R.T. Brittenden (1961) ''New ...

, played seven Tests for New Zealand in the 1930s. Both father and son were selected in New Zealand touring teams, in 1930 and 1965 respectively, at the age of 18.

Cricket career

After some fine performances as a leg-spinning all-rounder for the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Under-20 side in the 1964-65 Brabin Tournament (23 wickets at 10.47 in three matches), Vivian was selected to tour India, Pakistan and England in 1965 with the national team. He played his first Test just after his nineteenth birthday, against India in Calcutta, without having played a first-class match. He made a useful 43 in the second innings, coming in when New Zealand were struggling at 103 for 7 and helping the side avoid defeat. On the England leg of the tour he played eight first-class matches but was unsuccessful with bat or ball, and did not play a Test. He toured the West Indies in 1971–72 and played four Tests but without success. However, his fielding was outstanding:

Henry Blofeld Henry Calthorpe Blofeld, Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 23 September 1939) nicknamed Blowers by Brian Johnston, is an English retired sports journalist, Sports presenter, broadcaster and amateur ornithologist best known as a cricket com ...

described the 1971-72 New Zealanders' fielding as "the most impressive I have ever seen from any side anywhere", and he singled out Vivian as "the best of all". He continued to play domestic cricket in New Zealand until 1978–79, but never played another Test. Vivian's best first-class bowling figures were 5 for 59 for Auckland against

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

at Auckland in 1967–68. On a brief non-Test tour of Australia in 1969-70 he hit his highest first-class score (and first century) of 137 not out against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in Melbourne, out of a New Zealand total of 220, having come to the crease at 22 for 4.

After cricket

In 1981 Vivian established a company manufacturing synthetic turf for sports grounds. By 2007 its New Zealand factory was weaving 950,000 square metres of various kinds of turf a year.Big Mexico contract for Tiger Turf
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vivian, Graham 1946 births Living people Auckland cricketers Cricketers from Auckland New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers New Zealand people of Cornish descent North Island cricketers