Richard Hadlee First man to bag 4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ test wickets.
“New Zealand’s heaviest artillery operating off a pop-gun run-up” ~Don Cameron
#OnThisDay birth of a man who holds the record of quickest to 400 test scalps by any fast bowler, in just 8️⃣0️⃣ tests.
The record was equaled by Cricket South Africa Dale Steyn. The overall record is held by Sri Lanka Cricket Muttiah Muralitharan.
1990: Christchurch, New Zealand , Sanjay Manjrekar was his 4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th victim.
Image Source Hindu.
Prior to that in 1988 Bangalore, India test Arun Lal caught by Chris Kuggeleijn was his 3️⃣7️⃣4️⃣th wicket, the then world record overtaking England Cricket Sir Ian Botham.
The Blackcaps pacer had tremendous record among all fast bowlers. Hadlee most potent weapon was Southern hemisphere style, a leg-cutter. The Aussies were regularly tormented by Hadlee who scalped 130 wickets in mere 23 tests.
If we consider players with more than 400 test wickets , he is the only bowler to feature in top five lists of below category.
- Bowling Average
| Player | Career | Avg |
| CEL Ambrose (WI) | 1988-2000 | 20.99 |
| GD McGrath (AUS) | 1993-2007 | 21.64 |
| Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 1973-1990 | 22.29 |
| M Muralitharan (ICC/SL) | 1992-2010 | 22.72 |
| DW Steyn (SA) | 2004-2019 | 22.95 |
- Bowling Strike Rate
| Player | Career | Strike Rate |
| DW Steyn (SA) | 2004-2019 | 42.3 |
| Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 1973-1990 | 50.8 |
| GD McGrath (AUS) | 1993-2007 | 51.9 |
| CEL Ambrose (WI) | 1988-2000 | 54.5 |
| Wasim Akram (PAK) | 1985-2002 | 54.6 |
Most five wickets hauls in test cricket.
| Players | Career | Matches | Inns | Fifer | IPF |
| M Muralitharan (ICC/SL) | 1992-2010 | 133 | 230 | 67 | 3.43 |
| SK Warne (AUS) | 1992-2007 | 145 | 273 | 37 | 7.38 |
| Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 1973-1990 | 86 | 150 | 36 | 4.17 |
| A Kumble (INDIA) | 1990-2008 | 132 | 236 | 35 | 6.74 |
| HMRKB Herath (SL) | 1999-2018 | 93 | 170 | 34 | 5.00 |
He will take five wickets after every 4 inns or on an average two tests, only Sri Lanka Muralitharan has a better record. The point to mention here is that he is the only fast bowler in this esteem list.
- The ten wickets in match
| Players | Career | Matches | Inns | Ten | IPT |
| M Muralitharan (ICC/SL) | 1992-2010 | 133 | 230 | 22 | 10.45 |
| SK Warne (AUS) | 1992-2007 | 145 | 273 | 10 | 27.30 |
| Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 1973-1990 | 86 | 150 | 9 | 16.67 |
| HMRKB Herath (SL) | 1999-2018 | 93 | 170 | 9 | 18.89 |
| A Kumble (INDIA) | 1990-2008 | 132 | 236 | 8 | 29.50 |
The list is somewhat similar to the five-wicket one. Richard Hadlee is the only bowler to find a place in all the tables.
The record is exemplary when we consider winning matches .
| Players | Career | Matches | Wkts | Avg |
| Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 1974-1990 | 22 | 173 | 13.06 |
| Imran Khan (PAK) | 1976-1992 | 26 | 155 | 14.5 |
| M Muralitharan (SL) | 1992-2010 | 54 | 438 | 16.18 |
| DW Steyn (SA) | 2006-2019 | 48 | 305 | 16.6 |
| MD Marshall (WI) | 1980-1991 | 43 | 254 | 16.78 |
Hadlee bagged 173 wickets in just 22 won tests at an average of 13 runs per wickets. The striking ability is next only to Proteas Steyn gun.
| Players | Career | Matches | Wkts | SR |
| DW Steyn (SA) | 2006-2019 | 48 | 305 | 32.1 |
| Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 1974-1990 | 22 | 173 | 33.5 |
| Waqar Younis (PAK) | 1990-2002 | 39 | 222 | 35 |
| AA Donald (SA) | 1992-2001 | 33 | 187 | 35.5 |
| MD Marshall (WI) | 1980-1991 | 43 | 254 | 38.1 |
He was also among the top allrounders in the 80s with the likes of Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, and Ian Botham.
| Players | Career | Matches | Runs | Wkts |
| N Kapil Dev (INDIA) | 1978-1994 | 131 | 5248 | 434 |
| IT Botham (ENG) | 1977-1992 | 102 | 5200 | 383 |
| Imran Khan (PAK) | 1971-1992 | 88 | 3807 | 362 |
| Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) | 1973-1990 | 86 | 3124 | 431 |
He played the majority of his First Class Cricket for Nottinghamshire bagging 622 wickets including 38 five wickets haul.
| Team | Wkts | Ave | Fifer | Ten |
| Nottinghamshire | 622 | 14.51 | 38 | 5 |
| New Zealand | 431 | 22.29 | 36 | 9 |
| Canterbury | 285 | 16.14 | 19 | 2 |
| New Zealanders | 139 | 23.06 | 8 | 2 |
| Tasmania | 13 | 36.69 | 1 | 0 |
He also played one season for Tasmania in the 1979 Sheffield Shield. Worcestershire, Lancashire, Sussex, Warwickshire, and Leicestershire were his favorite opponents.
| Opponent | Wkts | Ave | 5wI |
| Worcestershire | 61 | 18.96 | 2 |
| Lancashire | 60 | 11.35 | 6 |
| Sussex | 60 | 10 | 4 |
| Warwickshire | 57 | 13.1 | 5 |
| Leicestershire | 53 | 17.52 | 2 |
Overall first record
| Matches | Runs | Wickets | Bat Avg | Bowling Avg | 100 | Fifer |
| 342 | 12052 | 1490 | 31.71 | 18.11 | 14 | 102 |
12000 plus runs and close to 1500 wickets with more than 100 five wickets haul explains the greatness of the man.
Some of his top five bowling performances .
- 9-52 vs Australia in Brisbane 1985
- 7-23 vs India at Wellington 1976
- 7-116 vs Australia at Christchurch 1986
- 6-26 vs England at Wellington 1978
- 6-50 vs West Indies at Christchurch 1987
1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987 NEW ZEALAND CRICKET ALMANACK PLAYERS OF THE YEAR.
1982 WISDEN CRICKETERS OF THE YEAR
1989 INDIAN CRICKET CRICKETERS OF THE YEAR
2009 ICC HALL OF FAME
Cricketing Legends – Sir Richard Hadlee (BBC, 1991)