New Zealand cricket team in South Africa in 1953–54

The New Zealand national cricket team toured South Africa from October 1953 to February 1954 and played a five match Test series against the South Africa national cricket team. South Africa won the Test series 4–0. South Africa were captained by Jack Cheetham and New Zealand by Geoff Rabone.[1]

Team

The manager was the former Test batsman Jack Kerr. The four players who had not yet played Test cricket – Beck, Bell, Leggat and Overton – all played their first Tests on the tour.

The average age of the team was 25. With the aim of establishing a high standard of fielding, some older or slower players were overlooked, including the spinners Tom Burtt and Alex Moir, and the opening batsman Gordon Leggat.[2] Leggat later joined the team for the Australian leg of the tour, replacing the injured Rabone.

Test series summary

First Test

11–15 December 1953
(4-day match)
Scorecard

South Africa	v	New Zealand
437/9d (115 overs) RA McLean 101 AR MacGibbon 3/73 (27 overs)		230 (105.6 overs) GO Rabone 107 HJ Tayfield 6/62 (36 overs)
		149 (f/o) (89.1 overs) GO Rabone 68 HJ Tayfield 3/35 (26.1 overs)

South Africa won by an innings and 58 runs
Kingsmead, Durban
Umpires: AN McCabe and BV Malan

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat.
13 December was taken as a rest day.
NAT Adcock (SA) and GWF Overton (NZ) made their Test debuts.

Second Test

24–29 December 1953
(4-day match)
Scorecard

South Africa	v	New Zealand
271 (80 overs) WR Endean 93 AR MacGibbon 3/61 (22 overs)		187 (53.2 overs) B Sutcliffe 80 DEJ Ironside 5/51 (19 overs)
148 (53.1 overs) RA McLean 36 JR Reid 4/34 (16 overs)		100 (47.5 overs) GO Rabone 22 ME Chapple 22 NAT Adcock 5/43 (19 overs)

South Africa won by 132 runs
Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Umpires: CD Coote and DT Drew

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat.
25 and 27 December were taken as rest days.
DEJ Ironside (SA) and JEF Beck (NZ) made their Test debuts.

Third Test

1–5 January 1954
(4-day match)
Scorecard

New Zealand	v	South Africa
505 (165.3 overs) JR Reid 135 DEJ Ironside 4/117 (46.3 overs)		326 (127.7 overs) JE Cheetham 89 GO Rabone 6/68 (38.7 overs)
		159/3 (f/o) (54 overs) RJ Westcott 62 GO Rabone 1/16 (10 overs)

Match drawn
Newlands, Cape Town
Umpires: DV Collins and S Collins

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
3 January was taken as a rest day.
RJ Westcott (SA), and W Bell and IB Leggat (both NZ) made their Test debuts.

Fourth Test

29 January–2 February 1954
(4-day match)
Scorecard

South Africa	v	New Zealand
243 (98 overs) DJ McGlew 61 RW Blair 3/42 (19 overs)		79 (46.3 overs) FLH Mooney 23 HJ Tayfield 6/13 (14 overs)
25/1 (6.2 overs) JE Cheetham 16* AR MacGibbon 1/16 (3 overs)		188 (f/o) (92.2 overs) EW Dempster 47 NAT Adcock 5/45 (26 overs)

South Africa won by 9 wickets
Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Umpires: DT Drew and BV Malan

New Zealand won the toss and elected to field.
31 January was taken as a rest day.

Fifth Test

5–9 February 1954
(4-day match)
Scorecard

New Zealand	v	South Africa
226 (92.3 overs) JEF Beck 48 JC Watkins 4/34 (16 overs)		237 (98.1 overs) JE Cheetham 42 JR Reid 4/51 (32 overs)
222 (87.6 overs) JR Reid 73 CB van Ryneveld 4/67 (20.6 overs)		215/5 (47.3 overs) WR Endean 87 AR MacGibbon 2/44 (10 overs)

South Africa won by 5 wickets
St George's Park, Port Elizabeth
Umpires: DV Collins and FRW Payne

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
7 February was taken as a rest day.

References

"New Zealand in South Africa 1953–54". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
Don Neely & Richard Payne, Men in White: The History of New Zealand International Cricket, 1894–1985, Moa, Auckland, 1986, p. 216.

External links

New Zealand in Australia and South Africa 1953-54 at CricketArchive
Martin Williamson, "Beyond the call of duty" at Cricinfo

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See also: International cricket in South Africa from 1971 to 1981