Blair Pocock, a tall rather ungainly opening bat from Northern Districts
and later for Auckland, made an auspicious start to his Test career
against Australia in Perth in 1993-94. Facing Craig McDermott and Glenn
McGrath, and despite the limitations of his front foot approach on the
fastest wicket in the world, he batted for the best part of a day after
his batting partners had got the side into trouble. He scored only 34
and 28 in that first match, but it seemed as if New Zealand had found a
new batsman in their traditional 'grit your teeth and get on with it'
style.
Blair Pocock brought himself to public notice with an innings of
110 not out for a New Zealand XI against Graham Gooch's England side in
Nelson in January 1992. His initial success in Australia was followed by
disappointment, with scores of 9 and 15 at Hobart and 0 and 11 in
Brisbane. He played two Tests in New Zealand's next series, at home
against Pakistan, but his top score was only 16 and he was replaced by
his namesake Blair Hartland.
He toured England in 1994, appearing in the
Lord's Test, but again with little success, scoring just 10 and 2,
dismissed by Peter Such and Phillip DeFreitas. On the tour he scored 374
runs at an average of 31.16, scoring 103 not out against Glamorgan at
Swansea. (Bob Harragan) |