Bruce Taylor
v India, Kolkata, March 1965
Rank: No1
The tall all-rounder played 30 tests for New Zealand but is fondly remembered for a stunning debut effort that remains a record. He smacked 105 and took five for 86 at Eden Gardens in front of at least 30,000 Indian fans. Taylor is the only player from any country to score a century and take five wickets in an innings on debut. The incomparable Bert Sutcliffe had apparently told Taylor to keep his head down and a century was in the offing. But the aggressive left-hander ignored the message and attacked with 14 boundaries and three sixes to help New Zealand post 462 for nine declared. Despite Taylor’s fine effort with the ball, India replied with 380 and the game was eventually drawn.
Mathew Sinclair
v West Indies, Wellington, December 1999
Rank: No2
Sinclair had been on the selectors’ radar for some time and finally forced his way in for the second test against the West Indies. He made an astonishing debut, scoring 214, and it felt like the next Bert Sutcliffe or Martin Crowe had just arrived. So as his colossal debut score mounted, so did the public’s expectation. Sinclair’s 150 against South Africa (2000) and undefeated 204 against Pakistan (2001) seemed to confirm him as a great in the making. But his was a career of two halves. After 12 tests he had scored 946 runs at a world-class average of 52.56. The next 21 tests netted just 689 runs at 20.87. Oh well, fabulous debut.
Tim Southee
v England, Napier, March 2008
Rank: No3
Southee was just 19 when he made his test debut and showed up some of the best batsmen in the world with five for 55 against England at McLean Park. Among his victims were Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss and the intimidating Kevin Pietersen. Sadly, the New Zealand batsmen could not back the teenager up and the home side lost the test by 121 runs. Southee actually top-scored for New Zealand with a thrilling undefeated 77 from just 40 balls. He probably reached his batting apex in that game, though.
Hamish Rutherford
v England, Dunedin, March 2013
Rank: No4
The Otago opener could not have dreamed up a better debut. The dashing left-hander with the famous father — Ken Rutherford — carved out his own place in New Zealand cricket history with a majestic innings, smashing 171 against England on his home ground in Dunedin. Just over a year earlier he was not even playing first-class cricket. He had been overlooked by Otago and pigeonholed as a limited-overs player. He used some of that aggressive flair to flay an England attack that included Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson and Monty Panesar.
Rodney Redmond
v Pakistan, Auckland, February 1973
Rank: No5
Redmond gets the sentimental vote. His maiden innings in test cricket was a glorious 107 and he followed up with 56 in the second innings. That would have been memorable on its own but Redmond, famously, never played for his country again. He was dropped and then had some trouble with his vision. But his debut has become entrenched in New Zealand cricket folklore.
Paul Wiseman
v Sri Lanka, Colombo, May 1998
Rank: No6
Ideally, you want spinners to take a bunch of wickets in the last innings and help win a game. Wiseman managed just that. Centuries by Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan meant New Zealand set Sri Lanka the huge target of 465 to win. Wiseman went to work, ripping out the top three batsman — Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene — and they could all bat a bit. He bowled in tandem with Daniel Vettori, who was instrumental as well with three wickets. But Wiseman starred with five for 82 from 46.5 overs. Must have been a long, hot couple of days.
Colin de Grandhomme
v Pakistan, November 2016
Rank: No7
His potted history suggested the Zimbabwe-born player was a big tonker who should have played a lot more limited-overs cricket for his adopted country. But with the ball he was more of a journeyman who would not be a threat at test level, right? Wrong. He struck an under-prepared Pakistan team on a helpful wicket and hooped the ball around to claim six for 41 — the best return for a New Zealand bowler on test debut.
Scott Styris
v West Indies, Grenada, June-July 2002
Rank: No8
In retrospect, it is hard to believe the selectors picked Chris Harris, Nathan Astle and Scott Styris for the second test. That is at least one dibbly-dobbler too many, don’t you think? Regardless, Styris scored 107 batting at No8. Got promoted in the second innings to No6 and scored 69 not out. He also picked up two wickets in the match. One of them was cricket great Brian Lara. Styris might not have been the most skilled cricketer to have donned the Black Cap, but he was a very smart operator and got his test career off to a cracking start.
Lou Vincent
v Australia, Perth, November-December 2001
Rank: No9
OK, so just about everyone scored a hundred in this game. Even Shane Warne nearly got there — he was caught for 99 (don’t laugh). But Vincent’s 104 at the top of the New Zealand order is worth acknowledging even if three of his teammates scored hundreds in the same innings. While the batsmen were not exactly wading through concrete, Glenn McGrath and Warne were in the attack. They finished their careers with a combined 1271 test wickets. The other trundlers were Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie. Those poor sods could only manage a total of 569 between them. Pathetic.
Jimmy Neesham
v India, Wellington, February 2014
Rank: No10
Sympathy vote, really. Neesham scored perhaps the most anonymous century on debut ever. Some bloke scored 302 down the other end and hogged all the limelight.
