Blair Hartland
Encyclopedia
Blair Robert Hartland is a former New Zealand
cricketer
who played nine Tests
and 16 One Day Internationals for New Zealand
. He also played 11 seasons of domestic cricket for Canterbury, playing 83 first class and 68 List A games in total, Hartland also held the record for the most runs in a one day domestic match, until it was broken by Brendan McCullum. He was a specialist batsman, who usually opened the innings and bowled a total of three overs in his senior career. The son of former Canterbury cricketer, Ian Hartland, he was also a very talented hockey player.
A product of Christchurch Boys' High School
, Hartland was marked out as a talent early on, and aged 19 he was picked for the New Zealand Young Cricketers, who toured Australia
in 1985–86. The following season he made his first class debut, playing one game for Canterbury in a drawn domestic game. He made 59 runs for once out, retiring injured in the second innings, and did not return in that season. He also played two seasons of second XI cricket for Northamptonshire
in 1987
and 1988
, and in 1988–89 Hartland hit his maiden first class century, in his fourteenth match.
Hartland became a regular fixture in the Canterbury first-class team after that, playing 10 of 11 games in the 1990–91 season, for example. The following season, he was picked as an opening batsman for New Zealand Emerging Players (similar to the current New Zealand A team
) against a touring England XI. Though Hartland faced 36 balls in his two innings, he only made one run for twice out, but that didn't prevent the New Zealand selectors from selecting him for the first Test at his native Christchurch
two weeks later, as New Zealand sought a replacement for the defensive opener Trevor Franklin
who had opened on tour of Sri Lanka a year earlier http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/1990-91/SL_IN_NZ/SL_NZ_T3_01-05MAR1991.html.
However, Hartland's debut did not yield a good result for New Zealand. England were put in to bat, made 580 for nine declared
, before spin bowler
Phil Tufnell
took eleven wickets in the match, including Hartland twice, for 22 in the first innings and then 45 in the second when stumps were drawn on day four. Hartland watched as Tufnell added a further six victims in the second innings, and England secured a victory by an innings and four runs http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/55/55357.html. Hartland was retained for the second Test, however, and recorded a pair of ducks
as New Zealand went down by 168 runs – before scoring 2 in New Zealand's first innings of the third Test where the team made 432 for 9 declared after a stand of 241 between John Wright
and Andrew Jones
.
Hartland had still not passed fifty in six Test innings, but was still taken on tours of Zimbabwe
and Sri Lanka
in 1992–93, and though he did not play a Test against Zimbabwe (with Mark Greatbatch
and Rod Latham preferred as openers), he played his first ODI on that tour, scoring five runs from number three in the batting order as New Zealand won by four wickets. Greatbatch and Latham were dropped for Sri Lanka, however, and Hartland was back as opener together with Wright; after he was out to Duleep Liyanage for 3 in the first innings, and Sri Lanka had declared 39 runs ahead with five sessions remaining, Hartland batted for four hours in an opening stand worth 110 with Wright, making his maiden Test fifty. New Zealand batted out the match, making 195 for 5 the second innings in a drawn game http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/56/56647.html.
That was enough for Hartland to be picked for the second Test a week later, where he made the second highest score of New Zealand's innings. However, that was only 21, as New Zealand fell from 57 for 0 to 102 all out; following on, Hartland made 21 again as New Zealand made 361, but Sri Lanka took a nine-wicket win and the series by 1–0. Hartland also played two of the three ODIs in the series, recording his maiden ODI fifty, but New Zealand still lost both matches and the series 0–2.
Hartland also played New Zealand's next Test http://www.cricinfo.com/db/NATIONAL/NZ/SERIES/ALL.html, a home match against Pakistan
, but after he once again failed to pass 50 and made 9 in a second-innings chase of 127 to win, where New Zealand were bowled out for 93 by Wasim Akram
(five for 45) and Waqar Younis
(five for 22) http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/56/56777.html he was dropped and did not play international matches for over a year. When he did return, it was once again against Pakistan, scoring 13 runs in two innings in a five-wicket win for New Zealand. He continued to feature in the New Zealand side for the remainder of the 1993–94 season, making 68 not out
in a successful chase of 146 in a One Day International against Pakistan, but otherwise not passing 25 in one Test and seven One Day Internationals.
Hartland was, however, picked for New Zealand's tour of England in 1994
; he played nine matches against first-class sides of the country, but only one Test, his last. Hartland made 6 and 22 in an innings defeat http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/58/58946.html, and was replaced by Blair Pocock
in the next match http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/59/59027.html. He played a further five ODIs during the 1994–95 season, but after five scores below 50 he was dropped after the Mandela Trophy
. He played a further two seasons for Canterbury before retiring.
Hartland is married to Nicki, and has three children, Emma (b.1995), Tessa (b.1997) and Benjamin (b.1999)
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
who played nine Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
and 16 One Day Internationals for New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
. He also played 11 seasons of domestic cricket for Canterbury, playing 83 first class and 68 List A games in total, Hartland also held the record for the most runs in a one day domestic match, until it was broken by Brendan McCullum. He was a specialist batsman, who usually opened the innings and bowled a total of three overs in his senior career. The son of former Canterbury cricketer, Ian Hartland, he was also a very talented hockey player.
A product of Christchurch Boys' High School
Christchurch Boys' High School
Christchurch Boys' High School is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a 12 hectare site between the suburbs of Riccarton and Fendalton, 4 kilometres to the west of central Christchurch. The school also provides boarding facilities for 130 boys, in a...
, Hartland was marked out as a talent early on, and aged 19 he was picked for the New Zealand Young Cricketers, who toured Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
in 1985–86. The following season he made his first class debut, playing one game for Canterbury in a drawn domestic game. He made 59 runs for once out, retiring injured in the second innings, and did not return in that season. He also played two seasons of second XI cricket for Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
in 1987
1987 English cricket season
In the 1987 English cricket season Nottinghamshire pulled off the Championship and NatWest Trophy "double"-Honours:*County Championship - Nottinghamshire*NatWest Trophy - Nottinghamshire*Sunday League - Worcestershire...
and 1988
1988 English cricket season
The 1988 English cricket season was dominated by Worcestershire who won the first of two successive championships and also a second successive Sunday league title....
, and in 1988–89 Hartland hit his maiden first class century, in his fourteenth match.
Hartland became a regular fixture in the Canterbury first-class team after that, playing 10 of 11 games in the 1990–91 season, for example. The following season, he was picked as an opening batsman for New Zealand Emerging Players (similar to the current New Zealand A team
New Zealand A cricket team
The New Zealand A cricket team is a cricket team representing New Zealand, and is the "second tier" of international New Zealand cricket below the full New Zealand cricket team. The team played its first game, against an England XI, in 1996/97...
) against a touring England XI. Though Hartland faced 36 balls in his two innings, he only made one run for twice out, but that didn't prevent the New Zealand selectors from selecting him for the first Test at his native Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
two weeks later, as New Zealand sought a replacement for the defensive opener Trevor Franklin
Trevor Franklin
Trevor John Franklin has played 21 Tests and three One Day Internationals for New Zealand. He also play for Auckland cricket association...
who had opened on tour of Sri Lanka a year earlier http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/1990-91/SL_IN_NZ/SL_NZ_T3_01-05MAR1991.html.
However, Hartland's debut did not yield a good result for New Zealand. England were put in to bat, made 580 for nine declared
Declaration and forfeiture
In the sport of cricket a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture is when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 14 of the Laws of cricket...
, before spin bowler
Spin bowling
Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...
Phil Tufnell
Phil Tufnell
Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell is a former English cricketer turned television personality. A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, "Tuffers" as he was known played 42 Tests and 20 One Day International matches for England, as well as playing for Middlesex from 1986 to 2002...
took eleven wickets in the match, including Hartland twice, for 22 in the first innings and then 45 in the second when stumps were drawn on day four. Hartland watched as Tufnell added a further six victims in the second innings, and England secured a victory by an innings and four runs http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/55/55357.html. Hartland was retained for the second Test, however, and recorded a pair of ducks
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
as New Zealand went down by 168 runs – before scoring 2 in New Zealand's first innings of the third Test where the team made 432 for 9 declared after a stand of 241 between John Wright
John Wright (cricketer)
John Geoffrey Wright is a former international cricketer representing - and captaining - New Zealand, and, following his retirement in 1993, coaching the Indian national cricket team from 2000 to 2005. He made his international debut in 1978 against England...
and Andrew Jones
Andrew Jones (cricketer)
Andrew Howard Jones is a former New Zealand cricketer who played in 39 Tests and 87 ODIs from 1987 to 1995. He played for three provinces during his domestic career: Central Districts Stags, Otago Volts and Wellington Firebirds....
.
Hartland had still not passed fifty in six Test innings, but was still taken on tours of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean cricket team
The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
in 1992–93, and though he did not play a Test against Zimbabwe (with Mark Greatbatch
Mark Greatbatch
Mark John Greatbatch was a New Zealand cricketer. He scored more than 2,000 runs in his 41 Tests for New Zealand...
and Rod Latham preferred as openers), he played his first ODI on that tour, scoring five runs from number three in the batting order as New Zealand won by four wickets. Greatbatch and Latham were dropped for Sri Lanka, however, and Hartland was back as opener together with Wright; after he was out to Duleep Liyanage for 3 in the first innings, and Sri Lanka had declared 39 runs ahead with five sessions remaining, Hartland batted for four hours in an opening stand worth 110 with Wright, making his maiden Test fifty. New Zealand batted out the match, making 195 for 5 the second innings in a drawn game http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/56/56647.html.
That was enough for Hartland to be picked for the second Test a week later, where he made the second highest score of New Zealand's innings. However, that was only 21, as New Zealand fell from 57 for 0 to 102 all out; following on, Hartland made 21 again as New Zealand made 361, but Sri Lanka took a nine-wicket win and the series by 1–0. Hartland also played two of the three ODIs in the series, recording his maiden ODI fifty, but New Zealand still lost both matches and the series 0–2.
Hartland also played New Zealand's next Test http://www.cricinfo.com/db/NATIONAL/NZ/SERIES/ALL.html, a home match against Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
, but after he once again failed to pass 50 and made 9 in a second-innings chase of 127 to win, where New Zealand were bowled out for 93 by Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....
(five for 45) and Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis Maitla is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket and widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time...
(five for 22) http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/56/56777.html he was dropped and did not play international matches for over a year. When he did return, it was once again against Pakistan, scoring 13 runs in two innings in a five-wicket win for New Zealand. He continued to feature in the New Zealand side for the remainder of the 1993–94 season, making 68 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
in a successful chase of 146 in a One Day International against Pakistan, but otherwise not passing 25 in one Test and seven One Day Internationals.
Hartland was, however, picked for New Zealand's tour of England in 1994
1994 English cricket season
The 1994 English cricket season saw the emergence of a very strong Warwickshire team who won both the County Championship and the Sunday League.-Honours:*County Championship - Warwickshire*NatWest Trophy - Worcestershire...
; he played nine matches against first-class sides of the country, but only one Test, his last. Hartland made 6 and 22 in an innings defeat http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/58/58946.html, and was replaced by Blair Pocock
Blair Pocock
Blair Andrew Pocock is a New Zealand cricket player who played 15 Tests for his national side. He was born in Papakura, New Zealand....
in the next match http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/59/59027.html. He played a further five ODIs during the 1994–95 season, but after five scores below 50 he was dropped after the Mandela Trophy
Mandela Trophy
The Mandela Trophy was a One-Day International tournament which took place from December 2, 1994 to January 12, 1995. The tournament was hosted by South Africa, who were one of the four sides competing with the others being New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Each side played each other twice...
. He played a further two seasons for Canterbury before retiring.
Hartland is married to Nicki, and has three children, Emma (b.1995), Tessa (b.1997) and Benjamin (b.1999)