Sir Richard Hadlee - One Man Army

Sir Richard John Hadlee, nicknamed “Paddles” for his large feet (born on 3 July 1951) is a former New Zealand cricketer & one of the greatest fast bowlers and all-rounders of all time. He is the son of Walter Hadlee, and the brother of Dayle and Barry Hadlee. His former wife Karen also played international cricket for New Zealand. He was the first bowler to pass 400 wickets. In December 2002, he was chosen by Wisden as the second greatest Test bowler of all time. He is currently the chairman of the New Zealand board of selectors. 

He was the master of (conventional) swing and was the original Sultan of Swing. Along with Malcolm "Macko" Marshall, Hadlee was seen as the finest fast bowler of his time, despite the contemporaneous presence of Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Kapil Dev and Wasim Akram among others.

As one of the four top all rounders of his time, the others being Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham, Hadlee was probably the best bowler of them all, but his batting was not in the same class as the others.Initially he was extremely fast, but as the years progressed he gained accuracy, movement off the wicket and in the air, and a reputation that probably gained him quite a few wickets on its own. Perhaps his most potent delivery was the often unplayable outswinger, which became his main weapon in the latter stages of his career.

Hadlee modelled his bowling action on the great Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, whom he regarded as his bowling role model. It was common for Hadlee to think about how to dismiss batsmen by wondering 'what would Lillee do?'.

His batting was also very handy and tore several bowling attacks to shreds when his team was in need of runs. He scored more than three thousand runs in his test career which included 3 centuries and 15 half centuries.He was undoubtedly the "One Man Army" of New Zealand team in early 80's.

Hadlee made his first class debut for Canterbury in 1971/72 and his test match debut in 1973 - on both occasions, his first delivery was dispatched to the boundary. A breakthrough performance (11 wickets) against India in 1976 in a game resulting in a win by New Zealand cemented his place in the side. In 1978, Hadlee helped New Zealand to a historic first win over England by taking 6 for 26 in England's second innings, bowling the visitors out for 64 chasing a target of 137.

In 1979/80, New Zealand faced the West Indies in a home test series at a time when the West Indies were a formidable world cricket power. Hadlee once again played an instrumental role both with ball and bat in winning the series by 1-0. The result was the start of a 12 year unbeaten home record for New Zealand in test match series. In 1983, Hadlee helped New Zealand in registering their first ever test win on English soil, at Headingley. On the Australian tour of 1985/86, Hadlee outstanding all-round performance helped destroy the home team giving his country their first series win on Australian soil and a personal haul of 33 wickets in 3 tests. In 1986 Hadlee helped New Zealand to a 1-0 series win in England, their first over that country in England. Hadlee's outstanding personal performance in the second test at Nottingham (his county 'home') where he took 10 wickets and scored 68 in New Zealand's first innings powered his team to victory. 

In a home series against India in 1989/90, Hadlee become the first bowler in history to take 400 test wickets when he dismissed Sanjay Manjrekar in the second innings of the first test. Shortly after helping New Zealand to another test victory over Australia at Wellington by taking his 100th first class 5 wicket haul in an innings, Hadlee announced that he would be retiring after the upcoming tour to England.

Shortly before the second test of the series in England at Lords, it was announced that Hadlee was to be knighted for his services to cricket. Hadlee did not have his knighthood conferred on him while still a test cricketer: Though the honour was announced in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 16 June 1990, it was only conferred on 4 October 1990, some months after his last test match on 10 July 1990. Lt.-Col. Sir Maharajkumar Dr. Vijayananda Gajapathi Raju (better known as the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or Vizzy) is the only person to have a knighthood conferred on him for services to cricket while an active test cricketer, in 1936. Unlike Hadlee however, Vizzy's knighthood was conferred for his administrative efforts, not his services to cricket as a player. Hadlee celebrated the achievement by scoring 86 in New Zealand's first innings and winning the man of the match award. In the final test of the series, Hadlee ended his test career by taking 5 wickets in his final bowling performance, and taking a wicket with the final ball of his test career.

Hadlee has received many awards throughout his career, including Appointed MBE for services to New Zealand sport in 1981,Knighthood for services to cricket in 1990,New Zealand Sportsman of the Year 1980, 1986,New Zealand Sportsperson of the Decade 1987 ,Inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009,Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from Nottingham University. The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in which New Zealand and Australia regularly compete in one-day matches, is named after the Chappell family of Australia and the Hadlee family of New Zealand.

Currently he is a cricket commentator and runs a sports trust by his name.The trust was opened to help sportsmen and women who were in situations of hardship to strive for success in their chosen sporting or cultural discipline. 

                                                     International Record 

Read about other allrounders:

• Kapil Dev
• Ian Botham
• Imran Khan