John Morrison (cricketer)
John Francis Maclean Morrison MNZM (born 27 August 1947 in Wellington) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played 17 Tests and 18 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. From 1998 to 2013, he was a Wellington City Councillor; his political career ended when he stood for mayor only.
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| Full name | John Francis MacLean Morrison | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 August 1947 Wellington, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Mystery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 128) | 29 December 1973 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 19 March 1982 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 20) | 9 March 1975 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 17 March 1983 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1965/66–1966/67 | Central Districts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1967/68–1983/84 | Wellington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 3 December 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cricket career
A dogged batsman, he was also known for his dribbly left-arm spin bowling, including his 'mystery' delivery.[1]
After several seasons of moderate performances in domestic cricket he hit 180 not out (which remained his highest first-class score) for Wellington against Northern Districts at Wellington in 1972–73, and was selected for the next season's tour of Australia. In the three-Test series he was New Zealand's leading run-scorer, with 249 at 41.50. He hit 117, his only Test century, in the Second Test at Sydney. He never regained that Test form, although he did enough to be selected in the Derrick Robins XI tour of South Africa in 1975–76.
His best bowling came for Wellington against Auckland at Auckland in 1977–78, when he took 5 for 69 in Auckland's second innings and followed up with 106 to lead a run chase which ended with Wellington losing by 4 runs.
Local-body politics
Since retiring from playing he has worked as a commentator and in local politics, including serving on the Wellington City Council for the Western Ward since 1998.[2] As councilor, Morrison worked to bring an Aussie Rules match to Wellington.[3] A match was held on Anzac Day 2013 between St Kilda and the Sydney Swans. Shortly afterwards Morrison and businessman John Dow brokered a deal with Australian firm CallActive to bring "300 to 500" call-centre jobs to Wellington.[4]
In May 2013, Morrison announced his candidacy for the Wellington mayoralty at the 2013 local elections.[5] He was unsuccessful in challenging incumbent mayor Celia Wade-Brown, meaning that he was no longer on Wellington City Council, as he had contested the mayoralty only.[6]
In July 2019, a new centre-right political party, the Wellington Party, announced candidates for the 2019 local government elections would include Morrison. [7] However, he did not appear on the final list of candidates.
Other roles
After finishing as a Wellington City Councillor in 2013, Morrison took on a role as CallActive's business development manager but left before the centre went into liquidation in 2015. [8]
Honours and awards
In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, Morrison was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cricket and the community.[9]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Morrison (cricketer). |
- "Mystery and the Mouth". Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- "I Wish I Was John Cleese". Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- "Aussie Rules Coming to Wellington?". 3 News. 18 April 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
- "Wellington grabs jobs off Aussies". TVNZ. 29 May 2013.
- McBride, Kerry (23 May 2013). "Morrison throws hat in ring for mayor". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- Katie Chapman; Tessa Johnstone; Kerry McBride (12 October 2013). "Three more years for Wade-Brown". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- "Centre-right 'Wellington Party' to contest council elections". Stuff. 12 July 2019.
- "2000 broken hopes at failed Wellington call centre". Stuff. 29 November 2015.
- "Queen's Birthday honours list 2009". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
External links
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