Walter Hadlee achieved a wide experience of the practicalities of the game of cricket in the course of his remarkable career. Few men have held so many different cricket appointments. As a player and administrator, he saw at first hand, every aspect of the game. The only people with a comparable similar record in world cricket would be Sir George (Gubby) Allen, England and Sir Donald Bradman, Australia. His sphere of action extended to the widest boundaries of the cricket-playing world. During his career New Zealand cricket emerged from adolescence to maturity.
Walter was on the Cricket Council’s Management Committee, (later, the Board of Control) for 34 years. He was Chairman of the Board of Control, 1973–78, President of New Zealand Cricket, 1981–83, a New Zealand selector for eight seasons and Manager of the New Zealand touring side in 1965.
From his earliest days, Walter was keen on sport, and his finest recollections of being taken to his ‘home away from home’, Lancaster Park, was when he was eight and he rode on the bar of his father’s bicycle to see a club rugby match. The first time he played on the ground was when Waltham Primary School played the curtain raiser to the 1926 Ranfurly Shield match between Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay.
New Zealand cricket was indebted for the first time to young Hadlee. Two months short of his 15th birthday he took his scorebook to the park and in his neat, meticulous handwriting, scored every ball of New Zealand’s first test match, against England in 1930. Two weeks later, he repeated the effort at the Basin Reserve. As the official score books have disappeared over the years, Walter’s is the only record of these historic occasions.
He played the first of his 43 first-class games for Canterbury at Lancaster Park at Christmas, 1933. Aged 18 he was superbly fit, had an elegant style and played shots all round the wicket. He was very nimble on his feet and was not afraid to advance well down the wicket to attack slow bowlers. Spectators commented about his speed between the wickets, and his splendid returns from the deep field.
He was eager to gain selection for the New Zealand team to tour England in 1937. After failing against Auckland he was surprisingly asked to open the batting against Wellington on New Year’s Day, 1937. In four hours he scored 192 not out to ensure his selection. It was the turning point in his life as he met his future wife, Lilla on board the ship taking the team to England.
The tour of England was a dream come true for a young man, who was well versed in England cricket history, having had access to the private library of Arthur Donnelly, from 1932. At the start of the tour he was overly defensive, but by the second test at Manchester he had rediscovered his attacking instincts, and with his side perilously positioned at 119 for 5 he rose to the occasion, and, attacking the bowling, scored 93 out of 137 in 135 minutes. It was a skilful and courageous performance.
In 1938 Walter played at centre for Canterbury in a Ranfurly Shield game against Otago. Owing to World War II, little sport was played in the next six years.
A growing family and a position as branch secretary for a large retail company DIC in Dunedin, saw Walter playing for Otago when peace was restored. In March 1946 he scored 198 in Otago’s second innings of 347 against Australia, whose attack included the pace and ferocity of Ray Lindwall, and the quick leg spinners of Bill O’Reilly. The following season, as captain of New Zealand he and Bert Sutcliffe put on 133 for the first wicket against England and Walter completed his only test century in 130 minutes. Seven months later he accepted a partnership in the accountancy firm of Pickles and Perkins and returned to Christchurch, where he lived for the rest of his life.
Every so often a sports team emerges, sometimes totally unexpected, that by their deeds in their sport, achieve success that captivates a country and elevates the team into the hearts of the nation. Such a team was the fourth New Zealand team to tour England in 1949, led by Walter Hadlee and yet it did not win a test. They drew the four tests, and only lost one of the 32 first-class games. They played cricket with the highest standards of sportsmanship and good humour. They captured all the elements of cricket; style, grace, elegance, stamina, courage and kinship. They established, the international credibility and acceptance of New Zealand Cricket, just as the 1905 All Blacks had done for rugby.
Leading English cricket writer R.C. Robertson Glasgow wrote, “Hadlee must rank among the great captains. He has proved himself a tactician, not inferior to the illustrious Bradman and New Zealand cricket has drawn strength from his leadership. Character is his rich gift; but also his brain.”
Walter led an extremely active life outside of cricket. As a Chartered Accountant he served as a director of at least 10 businesses based in Christchurch. He delighted in his garden, roses around the house and a never-ending array of vegetables. Lawn bowls captivated him. His circle of friends was considerable and his number of acquaintances, vast. Everyone enjoyed his quirky sense of humour, and all delighted in receiving his handwritten correspondence.
He maintained an interest in the young, which saw him serve as a Trustee of the National Youth Choir, a member of the Salvation Army Christchurch Advisory Board and be the Patron in Perpetuity of the Willows Cricket Club, whose objectives are to encourage secondary schools cricket.
Shortly after his 80th birthday in 1995 a new grandstand was opened at the northern end of Lancaster Park, named the Hadlee Stand.
A man of strong Christian beliefs, Walter Hadlee was most proud of his wife, their five sons and their families. Throughout his life he had the ability to transcend class and status and treat every woman, man and child with dignity and respect.