On the 1st day of the Wellington Test, Richard Hadlee became the first inductee to ICCs Hall of Fame. The ICC has drafted an initial list of 55 inductees for the Hall of Fame and Hadlee is the only cricketer from New Zealand to have been chosen. He commented that he was very fortunate during his playing career and it is indeed very special that his efforts are being recognized. He added that one can’t ask for more after being one of the first 55 inductees. Hadlee remarked that he would like to be remembered as a cricketer who toiled hard in a successful era of New Zealand cricket.
Hadlee’s career
Hadlee’s career spans from 1973 to 1990 and has participated in 86 Tests. During these, he took 431 wickets, which was a record at that time and accumulated 3124 runs. He also played in 115 ODIs and claimed 158 wickets and accrued 1751 runs. Hadlee remembers that his best Test win occurred in 1985-86 at Brisbane when he made 15 dismissals. He pointed out that being a sportsman he strived for perfection and the closest he could get to it was at the Gabba against Australia. New Zealand had not won in Australia before this Test and in this Test, New Zealand won by an innings and 41 runs. In the 1st innings, Hadlee took 9 wickets and was a catcher in the 10th dismissal. In the 2nd innings, he took 6 wickets. Also, he scored some runs in this Test. He feels that everything came together at the right time and it could not have got better than that.