Bevan Congdon has a special place in New
Zealand cricket history as the common denominator through the age of
advancement from Saturday afternoon amateurs to a more professional, in outlook
at least, unit.
From the time he was first selected in the
summer of 1964-65 through until his last tour of England in 1978, Congdon was
the one player to have provided the bridge from the construction phase to the
near completion of the task of New Zealand's climb into the top bracket of
world sides.
Some like John Reid and Bert Sutcliffe, who
provided major contributions, ended their time after the tour of India,
Pakistan and England in 1965. Others like Barry Sinclair, Graham Dowling, Gary
Bartlett, Dick Motz and Jack Alabaster got halfway through the process while others
like Bruce Taylor, Bob Cunis and Richard Collinge had phases of being in and
out of the side with availabilities and injuries.
Then the likes of Glenn Turner, Hedley
Howarth, Ken Wadsworth and Dayle Hadlee came in for the second half of the
journey with Richard Hadlee an even later addition to the cause.
But sailing through it all was Congdon,
growing in stature and confidence, playing within his limits, and occasionally
extending them as on the 1973 tour of England with his successive Test centuries.
Those formative days cannot be
under-stated. Years of being an afterthought on the end of tours of Australia
by English and West Indian teams meant New Zealand's best players were starved
by comparison to other countries.
There were the days in the late 1950s and 1960s when four home series
were played against Australian B sides with a tour to Australia to play state
sides in 1967. There were also the first involvement in limited overs
competitions in the fledgling Australian state competition where New Zealand's
rising stature became apparent.
Congdon proved an essential part in New
Zealand acquiring the knowledge that would stand them in such good stead within
a generation.
It took time but eventually things came
together for him. There was the run flow going off the chart in the West Indies
on the benign pitches that failed to produce a result in five Tests in 1972 and
there was the captaincy of the side in the first Test victory over Australia at
Lancaster Park in 1974. The captaincy had been moved on to Mark Burgess by 1978
but Congdon was there when victory was achieved over England for the first time
in Wellington at the old Basin Reserve.
His bowling was often under-appreciated but
it grew in stature during his career and two wickets for 14 at the end of
England's first innings helped ensure that while New Zealand suffered a
collapse, they still had enough runs in the bank to apply pressure for win.
Undemonstrative, in public at least, but
renowned for a certain trait of grittiness, being the subject of an
autobiography was never really in the Congdon make-up. Although there could
have been plenty of stimulus had he so chosen.
R.T. Brittenden, who saw all of Congdon's
career, wrote of him in 'The Finest Years', "When he came into first-class
cricket, it was as a boldly-attacking batsman, with a firm liking for the cut
and the pull. He did well enough to win test status in four years. But he
became outstandingly good only because of his firm resolve to improve. It was
not enough to make a good score now and then. He is a perfectionist."
No bad thing that through an era when being
a perfectionist wasn't always the most endearing characteristic of those who
didn't understand the requirements along the road to success.
He still sits within the top 10 run scorers
for New Zealand in Tests, in ninth on 3448, one behind Kane Williamson and one
ahead of John R. Reid. That's the sort of quality we're talking with seven Test
centuries and an average of 32.22 which says something of the tough times in the
early stages of his 62-Test career.
His contribution has not been overlooked
and Bill Francis has written an extended essay making a small book of Congdon's
career looking at what contributed to his emergence from what we now know as
the Tasman region of New Zealand and what sustained him through a distinguished
playing career.
'A Singular Man' has been published by The
Cricketers' Trust, which has been established by the professional players of
the day and the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association, with the support of
boutique cricket publisher Ron Cardwell in the publication.
It is a worthy addition to a growing
resource which acknowledges the era which was the necessary forerunner to New
Zealand's emergence on the world scene in the 1980s, especially, and beyond.
A Singular Man by Bill Francis. Published
by The Cricketers' Trust.
