The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1958 season. In a notably wet summer when the touring side lost the equivalent of 29 full days of cricket, the side lost four of the 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 would probably have lost the other had rain not ruined the match). In first-class matches, they won six of their first nine games, but then won only one more all season, although they only lost two matches outside the Tests, both of them to

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

The background

New Zealand's first tour of England for nine years saw what was probably the weakest of the Test-playing nations taking on the side that could probably claim to be the strongest. In home series

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

had successively beaten

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 ...

and

the West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater ...

, and a combination of fast bowling from

Brian Statham John Brian Statham, (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was an English professional cricketer from Gorton, in Manchester, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965.Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

and others, spin bowling from

Jim Laker James Charles Laker (9 February 1922 – 23 April 1986) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club from 1946 to 1959 and represented England in 46 Test matches. He was born in Shipley, West Riding of York ...

and

Tony Lock Graham Anthony Richard Lock (5 July 1929 – 30 March 1995) was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. He played in forty nine Tests for England taking 174 wickets at 25.58 each. Lock took 2,844 first-class wickets ...

, and apparently reliable batting led by captain

Peter May Peter May may refer to: *Peter W. May, American businessman *Peter May (cricketer) (1929–1994), English Test cricketer *Peter May (writer) Peter May (born 20 December 1951) is a Scottish television screenwriter, novelist, and crime writer. H ...

Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 19324 December 2000) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University (1952–1954), Kent County Cricket Club (1950–1976) and England (1954–1975). Univers ...

and

Tom Graveney Thomas William Graveney (16 June 1927 – 3 November 2015) was an English first-class cricketer, representing his country in 79 Test matches and scoring over 4,800 runs. In a career lasting from 1948 to 1972, he became the 15th player to score ...

had made them a formidable side. By contrast, New Zealand had undoubted batting class in

Bert Sutcliffe Bert Sutcliffe (17 November 1923 – 20 April 2001) was a New Zealand Test cricketer. Sutcliffe was a successful left-hand batsman. His batting achievements on tour in England in 1949, which included four fifties and a century in the Tests, e ...

, a determined captain in all-rounder John Reid, and some relatively unknown and untried players alongside a few reliable stalwarts who had played across the 1950s. The preceding years had seen New Zealand finally achieve its first-ever Test victory, and previous New Zealand sides in England had often raised their game in the big matches (though even Tests in the previous tours had been restricted to just three or four days).

The New Zealand touring team

The side was captained by John Reid who, with

Harry Cave Henry Butler Cave (10 October 1922 – 15 September 1989) was a New Zealand cricketer who captained New Zealand in nine of his 19 Test matches. His Test career extended from 1949 to 1958, and he played first-class cricket from 1945 to 1959. E ...

and John Hayes, were the four players who remained from the successful 1949 New Zealand team.

Jack Phillipps John Hugh Phillipps (born Auckland, 1 January 1898, died Wellington, New Zealand, 8 June 1977) was a New Zealand cricket administrator. He managed the New Zealand cricket team's tours of England in 1949 and 1958, and the MCC's tour of New Zea ...

was also returning for a second visit to England as tour manager. The full side was: * John Reid (captain) *

(vice-captain) *

Jack Alabaster John Chaloner Alabaster (born 11 July 1930) is a former cricketer who played 21 Test matches for New Zealand between 1955 and 1972. A leg-spin bowler, he was the only New Zealander to play in each of the country's first four Test victories. In ...

* Bob Blair *

* John D'Arcy *

Noel Harford Noel Sherwin Harford (30 August 1930 – 30 March 1981) was a New Zealand cricketer who played eight Test matches in the 1950s. In domestic cricket he played for Central Districts from 1953 to 1959 and for Auckland from 1963 to 1967. Career A ...

* John Hayes *

Tony MacGibbon Anthony Roy MacGibbon (28 August 1924 – 6 April 2010) was a cricketer who played 26 Tests for New Zealand in the 1950s. MacGibbon was a useful lower-order right-hand batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler who led the attack for his countr ...

Trevor Meale Trevor Meale (11 November 1928 – 21 May 2010) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1958. Meale was born in Papatoetoe, Auckland and died in Orewa, Auckland. Cricket career A left-handed opening batsman, Meale play ...

Lawrie Miller Lawrence Somerville Martin Miller (31 March 1923 – 17 December 1996) was a cricketer who played 13 matches of Test cricket for New Zealand between 1953 and 1958, and played Plunket Shield cricket for Central Districts and Wellington. Cricket ...

Alex Moir Alexander McKenzie Moir (17 July 1919 – 17 June 2000) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played 17 Test matches for New Zealand in the 1950s as a leg-spinner and lower-order batsman. Early life Moir served in Europe with New Zealand forces in ...

Eric Petrie Eric Charlton Petrie (22 May 1927 – 14 August 2004) was a New Zealand cricketer who played 14 Test matches for New Zealand from 1955 to 1966 as a wicket-keeper. Domestic career Petrie began playing for Waikato in the Hawke Cup in 1945–46. ...

(wicketkeeper) *

Bill Playle William Rodger Playle (1 December 1938 – 27 February 2019) was a New Zealand cricketer who played eight Tests for the national team between 1958 and 1963, making 151 runs as a specialist batsman. Cricket career In New Zealand Bill Playle's ...

John Sparling John Trevor Sparling (born 24 July 1938) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in 11 Test matches between 1958 and 1964. Domestic career A stocky, fair-haired, off-spinning all-rounder, Sparling was educated at Auckland Grammar School. ...

* John Ward (wicketkeeper) Of the 16 players, 11 had previously played Test cricket: the five newcomers were D'Arcy, Meale, Playle, Sparling and Ward, and of these five, all except Ward played in the Tests during this tour.

The tour

The New Zealand top order was poor, D'Arcy, Playle, Harford and Miller scoring only 325 runs between them in the Tests at an average of 9.28; of the four only Playle played Test cricket again. In the Second Test at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, despite scoring only 269 in the first innings, England won by an innings and 148 runs. In the Third Test at Leeds, England declared its first innings at 267 for 2, and won by an innings and 71 runs. The English spinner

finished the series with 34 wickets at an average of 7.47. The all-rounder Tony MacGibbon was New Zealand's highest scorer in the series, but he scored only 175 runs at an average of 19.44; he was also the highest wicket-taker with 20 at 19.45, nobody else taking more than six. In the first three Tests, the highest individual New Zealand innings was 39, by MacGibbon, with D'Arcy's 33 the only other score above 26. In the last two Tests, MacGibbon, Sparling and Reid each hit a fifty. Outside the Tests, Reid hit three first-class centuries, 1282 runs and averaged 47.48, as well as bowling and catching effectively.

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

chose him as one of its Cricketers of the Year, noting among other things that he "led the side cheerfully".Norman Preston, "New Zealanders in England, 1958",

1959, p.226.

Test series summary

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

References

Annual reviews

Playfair Cricket Annual ''Playfair Cricket Annual'' is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. It has been published every year since 1948. Its main purposes are to review ...

1959. *

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

1959.

External links

New Zealand in England, 1958
at

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

New Zealand in British Isles 1958
at CricketArchive

at Test Cricket Tours

Andy Zaltzman Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian and author who largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including '' Political Animal'', ''The Department'', an ...

{{International cricket tours of England 1958 in English cricket 1958 in New Zealand cricket June 1958 sports events in the United Kingdom July 1958 sports events in the United Kingdom August 1958 sports events in the United Kingdom International cricket competitions from 1945–46 to 1960

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...