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The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1937 season. The team was the third from New Zealand to tour England, following those of 1927 and 1931, and the second to play Test matches. Three Tests were arranged: England won the second match at Manchester and the matches at Lord’s and The Oval were drawn, the latter affected by rain. On the tour as a whole, the New Zealanders played 32 first class matches, winning 9 and losing 9, with 14 ending as draws.
Because the tour of England was not financially successful, the New Zealand Cricket Council tried to recoup its losses by arranging a short tour of Ceylon and Australia in October and November 1937 following the tour of England. The team played four matches, of which the three Australian matches were rated first class. New Zealand played the Ceylonese national team in Colombo (the match was drawn) and then three Australian state teams (the Australian sides won all three matches).
The touring team comprised: M L Curly Page (C), Giff Vivian (VC), Bill Carson, Jack Cowie, Martin Donnelly, Jack Dunning, Norman Gallichan, Walter Hadlee, Jack Kerr, Jack Lamason, Denis Moloney, Albert Roberts, Eric Tindill (WK), Merv Wallace and Lindsay Weir (Note: Cyril Parsloe replaced Jack Dunning for the end of the tour. Jack Dunning was unable to take any further time away from work.)
(Page, Carson and Tindill are credited as three of only seven ‘double All Blacks’, playing both cricket and rugby for New Zealand's national sides.
The team photograph was taken in England – Jack Dunning is in the photograph. No specific details are known of the photographer Bob Thomas.
England tour
1st Test, 26-29 June (27th was a rest day), Lord’s, London
England 424 and 226/4d
New Zealand 295 (A W Roberts 66*) and 175/8 (W M Wallace 56)
Match drawn.
2nd Test, 24-27 July (25th was a rest day), Old Trafford, Manchester
England 358/9d and 187 (J Cowie 6/67)
New Zealand 281 (W A Hadlee 93) and 134 (H G Vivian 50)
England won by 130 runs.
3rd Test, 14-17 August (15th was a rest day), The Oval London
New Zealand 249 (M P Donnelly 58) and 187 (H G Vivian 57)
England 254/7d and 31/1
Match drawn.
As noted above, on the tour as a whole, New Zealand played 32 first class matches, winning 9 and losing 9, with 14 ending as draws.
There was a remarkable match at the very end of the tour. New Zealand had a three-day match against Ireland in Dublin. However, the match was over in one day. Ireland made 79, with only four players reaching double figures; New Zealand's reply was worse, as only two players reached double figures in a total of 64. Then J Cowie took six wickets for three runs in eight overs as Ireland made just 30 – 15 of those were scored by one batsman, 10 were byes and 8 batsmen failed to score. New Zealand hit off the 46 runs for victory by eight wickets.
Ceylon
17 October, 1 day, single innings, Colombo Cricket Club, Colombo
Ceylon 221/8d
New Zealand 177/5 (G Vivian 68*)
Australia
5-8 November, Adelaide Oval
New Zealand 151 and 186 (G Vivian 64)
South Australia 331 and 7/0
South Australia won by10 wickets.
12-16 November, Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
New Zealand 210 (W Hadlee 51) and 223 (G Vivian 66)
Victoria 141 (C Parsloe 5/47) and 293/5
Victoria won by 5 wickets.
19-22 November, Sydney Cricket Ground
New Zealand 195 and 214 (M Wallace 58)
New South Wales 274 and 136/2
New South Wales won by 8 wickets.
