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. The tour was the first by a representative New Zealand side to South Africa and the tourists embarked on their visit without having won a Test match since they had been granted full member status of the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1930.

South Africa were captained by Jack Cheetham and New Zealand by Geoff Rabone.

Tour party
The New Zealand team was captained by Geoff Rabone with Bert Sutcliffe as vice-captain. Rabone had been reluctant to tour but was chosen as captain ahead of Merv Wallace, who had captained New Zealand when South Africa had toured in 1952–53. Despite having retired from Test cricket in 1951, the experienced Walter Hadlee was asked to captain the side but declined and Rabone agreed to lead the tour. Wallace chose not to join the tour after Rabone was appointed. Sutcliffe, who was New Zealand's outstanding post-war batsman, captained the New Zealanders during the fourth and fifth Test matches after Rabone broke a bone in his foot.

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. Leggat later joined the team for the Australian leg of the tour, replacing the injured Rabone.


 * Geoff Rabone (captain)
 * Bert Sutcliffe (vice-captain)
 * John Beck
 * Bill Bell
 * Bob Blair
 * Murray Chapple
 * Eric Dempster
 * Ian Leggat
 * Tony MacGibbon
 * Lawrie Miller
 * Frank Mooney
 * Guy Overton
 * Matt Poore
 * John Reid

The manager was the former Test batsman Jack Kerr. The four players who had not yet played Test cricket – Beck, Bell, Ian Leggat and Overton – all played their first Tests on the tour. Beck, who was aged 19, had not played a first-class match before the start of the tour. He was selected for the tour "on the basis of his schoolboy form and his raw promise" and made his first-class debut in the second match of the tour. His Test debut came in the second Test after he had played only five first-class matches.

Tour itinerary
The tour took place between October 1953 and March 1954, with the New Zealanders in South Africa until mid-February. The team left New Zealand on the Arawa on 1 October, arriving in Cape Town on 28 October after visiting Port Melbourne and Fremantle in Australia.

A total of 17 matches were played in South Africa during the tour, 16 of which were first-class. Seven matches were played before the first Test match, including one in Rhodesia. A single match took place between the first and second Tests and three further first-class matches were played between the third and fourth Tests; Rabone was injured during the final first-class match against Border, immediately before the fourth Test was played.

Three first-class matches were played in Australia during March on the return leg of the tour, and the touring team played a match against a New Zealand XI on their return to their home country.

Test series
All of the Test matches during the tour were four-day matches and used 8-ball overs. South Africa won four of the five Test matches, although the New Zealanders were in strong positions in two of these matches. The third Test was a draw.

First Test
The first Test match of the series was played at Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban, beginning on 11 December 1953. South Africa's Neil Adcock and New Zealand's Guy Overton made their Test match debuts.

South Africa gained a "great advantage" by winning the toss and chose to bat on a wicket which Wisden said "became more difficult as the match progressed". They scored 437 runs before declaring their innings complete after 115 overs. An opening century-partnership between Jackie McGlew and John Waite provided a foundation for the innings, with Roy McLean and Ken Funston also adding 135 for the fourth wicket, McLean top-scoring with an innings of 101. In reply, New Zealand finished the second day's play on 70 for the loss of 2 wickets (70/2) with captain Geoff Rabone unbeaten on 40 runs.

After a rest day on 13 December, Rabone completed his first century in Test cricket, scoring 107 in an innings which lasted over six hours, but New Zealand were all out for 230, and were asked to follow on. Off spin bowler Hugh Tayfield took six wickets for the cost of 62 runs (6/62) from his 36 overs, and Wisden reported that both he and leg spinner Clive van Ryneveld, who took three wickets, turned the ball "sharply" and "bowled with sustained accurately". After losing two quick wickets at the end of the third day's play, New Zealand were all out for 149 in their second innings, losing the match by an innings and 58 runs. Rabone, who "again resisted strongly", top-scored with 60 in New Zealand's second innings and batted for 9¾ hours of the 11¼ that New Zealand batted for.

Second Test
The second Test is notable for New Zealander Bob Blair receiving news that his fiancée, Nerissa Love, had been killed in the Tangiwai railway disaster on Boxing Day morning. Blair initially withdrew from the match and an announcement had been made that he would take no further part in the game. In the event, however, he travelled to the ground after having heard on the radio commentary of the match that New Zealand were in danger of having to follow on in their first innings. He came in to bat at the fall of the ninth wicket to join Bert Sutcliffe, who had already started to walk off the field having not known that Blair was at the ground. The packed crowd stood in silence.

The pair added 33 runs for the last wicket in 10 minutes, with Sutcliffe hitting Hugh Tayfield for three sixes and Blair hitting one in a single eight-ball over. In Tayfield's next over Blair was stumped, leaving New Zealand almost 100 runs behind after the first innings. After bowling South Africa out for 148 they needed 212 runs to win the match and were 75/3 on the last morning of the match before a batting collapse―the last seven wickets were lost for just 25 more runs― meant that South Africa won the match by 132 runs.

Third Test
The third Test was played at Newlands in Cape Town starting on New Year's Day. South African Dick Westcott and New Zealanders Bill Bell and Ian Leggat made their Test debuts. Bob Blair did not play in the match, although he remained in South Africa due to the time it would have taken to return to New Zealand meaning it was impossible to return home for his fiancée's funeral.

The match was New Zealand's best performance of the tour. After winning the toss and choosing to bat on a pitch that Wisden described as "favourable to batsmen" throughout the match, they scored 505 runs in their first innings, setting a new record for the highest Test match score by a New Zealand side. John Reid scored 135 and was part of a partnership of 174 runs for the fifth wicket with John Beck, setting a new record partnership for New Zealand against South Africa. The pair batted aggressively on the second day, Reid hitting 20 boundaries. Beck was run out for 99 runs, his highest score in Test cricket.

In reply, South Africa scored 326 runs, including a ninth wicket stand of 95 between Jack Cheetham and Hugh Tayfield. An innings of over four hours from Jackie McGlew, who scored 86 runs, had, however, taken time out of the game. They were asked to follow on, but were able to bat out the remaining time to force a draw, scoring 159/3.

Fourth Test
Geoff Rabone broke his foot in the lead up to the fourth Test and was unable to play again on the tour. He was replaced as captain by Bert Sutcliffe who won the toss and put South Africa in to bat.

The match was one-sided, with South Africa winning a "surprisingly comfortable victory" and securing their first home series win against any opposition since 1930. A damp pitch should have favoured New Zealand's bowlers, but the South African opening pair of McGlew and Westcott added 104 for the first wicket. A batting collapse followed, with Guy Overton taking three wickets for just one run in 13 balls to reduce the South Africans to 139/6 at one point. Cheetham and Waite, batting down the order with Westcott promoted to open the batting, added important runs, Waite scoring a half-century batting at number eight, and the side made a total of 243 runs.

The New Zealanders came in to bat on day two and were bowled out for 79. Tayfield took six wickets, including five in a spell of 32 balls without conceding a run, and only three batsmen reached double figures, with five, including Sutcliffe and Reid, recording ducks. Wisden reported that the pitch was not particularly favourable to spin bowling but that "much of the batting was extremely poor". They were asked to follow on, and a combination of rain and bad light meant that they survived into the fourth day despite a hostile opening bowling spell by Neil Adcock. South Africa quickly made the 25runs they needed for victory, winning by nine wickets.

Fifth Test
New Zealand won the toss for the third match in succession at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, but, after closing to bat, were unable to take advantage of a slow pitch which favoured the batsmen. They scored 226, according to Wisden "[throwing] away a good opportunity of at last winning a Test Match". A combination of batting which "lacked enterprise" and effective bowling and fielding by South Africa limited the New Zealand score, and, after bowling South Africa out for 237, they were unable to score enough runs to put pressure on South Africa, despite half-centuries from Reid and Sutcliffe.

After bowling New Zealand out in their second innings for 222, South Africa had under four hours to score 212 runs to win the match. They did so in just over three hours, with Russell Endean and John Watkins both receiving praise from Wisden for "hitting freely" as they won the match by five wickets.