# Australian cricket team in New Zealand in 1909–10

The Australia national cricket team toured New Zealand from February to April 1910 and played seven first-class matches including two against the New Zealand national cricket team. New Zealand at this time had not been elevated to Test status.
Australia won five of the seven first-class matches by comfortable margins, including the two against New Zealand. The match against Canterbury was a close draw, and the last match, against Hawke's Bay, was abandoned without any play taking place.

## Background

In late 1908, The New Zealand Cricket Council asked the Australian Board of Control of Cricket to consider a proposal that the Australian team selected for the 1909 Ashes tour play a series of matches in New Zealand prior to departing for England, as had been the case for the previous tour in 1904/05. The Australian Board declined this proposal and offered to send a Second Eleven team instead. The New Zealand authorities rejected this proposal on the grounds that a second-string team would not make the tour a financial success and asked the Australian Board on what terms would the Australian side visit New Zealand on their return journey from England. Again, this proposal was rejected by the Australian Board and the arrangements for the tour were pushed back to the 1909/10 season.

## Team

On 14 Jan 1910 the Australian Board of Control of Cricket met and appointed a selection committee of Clem Hill, Frank Iredale and Peter McAlister to choose the touring squad and appointed Alick Mackenzie as the tour manager and Australian Board representative. The appointment of Mackenzie to this role was seen as a reward for his services to Australian cricket after a long career. The 1909/10 season was his last in competitive cricket. It was his second tour of New Zealand having previously toured with the New South Wales side in 1893/94.
The Australian Board of Control asked each state representative on the board to nominate a set number of players from their state for selection. New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia were asked to nominate six players each, while Queensland and Tasmania were asked to nominate two each. From this pool of 22 players the selectors would choose a final touring squad of 13.
Of the players initially selected, Gar Waddy and Stanley Hill were unavailable to make the tour. They were replaced in the team by Tom Warne and Charles Simpson respectively.
Australian touring party to New Zealand 1909/10 :
| Name | Age | Role | Batting Style | Bowling Style | First-Class Team | Notes |
| Alick Mackenzie (Manager) | 39 | Team manager | Right-handed | - | New South Wales | |
| Warwick Armstrong (Captain) | 30 | All-rounder | Right-handed | Right-arm legspin | Victoria | |
| Warren Bardsley (Vice-captain) | 27 | Batter | Left-handed | - | New South Wales | |
| Norman Dodds | 33 | Batter | Right-handed | - | Tasmania | |
| Sid Emery | 24 | Bowler | Right-handed | Legbreak googly | New South Wales | |
| Ashley Facy | 24 | Bowler | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | Tasmania | |
| Charles Gorry | 31 | Wicket-keeper | Right-handed | - | New South Wales | |
| Stanley Hill | 24 | Batter | Right-handed | - | South Australia | Replaced by Charles Simpson |
| Bert Hopkins | 35 | All-rounder | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | New South Wales | |
| Charles Kelleway | 23 | All-rounder | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | New South Wales | |
| Edgar Mayne | 27 | Batter | Right-handed | - | South Australia | |
| Charles Simpson | 27 | Batter | Right-handed | Right-arm off-spin | Queensland | |
| Dave Smith | 25 | Batsman | Right-handed | - | Victoria | |
| Tom Warne | 40 | All-rounder | Right-handed | Right-arm leg-spin | Victoria | |
| Gar Waddy | 30 | Wicket-keeper | Right-handed | | New South Wales | Replaced by Tom Warne |
| Bill Whitty | 23 | Bowler | Right-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | South Australia | |
The touring party was not a full-strength Australian team. Of the selected players, only Armstrong, Bardsley, Hopkins and Whitty had previously played Test cricket and no other players outside of those four had toured with the 1909 Australian team in England. Outside those four, Emery, Kelleway, Mayne and Smith went on to play Tests.

## The tour

The touring party left Australia on 5 February 1910, departing Sydney on the steamship Moeraki, and arrived in New Zealand at Wellington on 9 February. On the evening of their arrival the touring party were officially welcomed to Wellington at a function in the town hall hosted by Dr. Alfred Newman.

### Tour itinerary

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Match type | Result | Notes |
| 11-14 Feb 1910 | Wellington | Basin Reserve, Wellington | First-Class | Australians won by 6 wickets | 3-day match; rest day on 13 Feb. |
| 18-21 Feb 1910 | Auckland | Auckland Domain, Auckland | First-Class | Australians won by an innings and 128 runs | 3-day match; rest day on 20 Feb. |
| 25-28 Feb 1910 | Canterbury | Lancaster Park, Christchurch | First-Class | Draw | 3-day match; rest day on 27 Feb. |
| 5-8 Mar 1910 | Otago | Carisbrook, Dunedin | First-Class | Australians won by 10 wickets | 3-day match; rest day on 6 Mar. |
| 11-14 Mar 1910 | New Zealand | Lancaster Park, Christchurch | First-Class | Australia won by 9 wickets | 3-day match; rest day on 13 Mar. |
| 16-17 Mar 1910 | Manawatu XIII | Sports Ground, Palmerston North | Minor | Australians won by an innings and 104 runs | 2-day match |
| 18-19 Mar 1910 | Wanganui | Cooks Gardens, Wanganui | Minor | Australians won by six wickets | 2-day match |
| 22-23 Mar 1910 | Taranaki XV | Pukekura Park (Recreation Ground), New Plymouth | Minor | Draw | 2-day match |
| 26-29 Mar 1910 | New Zealand | Basin Reserve, Wellington | First-Class | Australia won by 162 runs | 3-day match; rest day on 27 Mar. |
| 1-4 Apr 1910 | Hawke's Bay | Recreation Ground, Napier | First-Class | Match abandoned due to rain | 3-day match; rest day on 3 Apr. |

## Match summaries
### Australia v Wellington

* 11–14 February 1910 Scorecard
* Australia won by 6 wickets Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Daniel McKenzie, J. Varnham
* Wellington won the toss and elected to bat

### Australia v Auckland

* 18–21 February 1910 Scorecard
* Australia won by an innings and 128 runs Auckland Domain, Auckland Umpires: Sammy Jones, Clarence van der Heyde
* Australia won the toss and elected to bowl

### Australia v Canterbury

* 25–28 February 1910 Scorecard
* Match Drawn Lancaster Park, Christchurch Umpires: C. Hardy, Alfred Hart
* Canterbury won the toss and elected to bat

### Australia v Otago

* 5–8 March 1910 Scorecard
* Match Drawn Carisbrook, Dunedin Umpires: A. Austin, R. Ferguson
* Otago won the toss and elected to bat

### 1st Unofficial Test Australia v New Zealand

* 11–14 March 1910 Scorecard
* Australia won by 9 wickets Lancaster Park, Christchurch
* Australia won the toss and elected to bowl

### Australia v Manawatu XIII

* 16–17 March 1910 Scorecard
* Australian XI won by an innings and 104 runs Sports Ground, Palmerston North
* Wellington won the toss and elected to bat

### 2nd Unofficial Test Australia v New Zealand

* 26–29 March 1910 Scorecard
* Australia won by 162 runs Basin Reserve, Wellington Umpires: Daniel McKenzie, J. Varnham
* Australia won the toss and elected to bat

## First-class statistics
### Batting

| Name | Matches | Innings | Not Outs | 100s | 50s | H.S. | Runs | Average |
| Edgar Mayne | 6 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 136 | 532 | 59.11 |
| Warwick Armstrong | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 149* | 393 | 56.14 |
| Warren Bardsley | 6 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 97 | 375 | 41.67 |
| Dave Smith | 6 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 102 | 206 | 25.75 |
| Charles Kelleway | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 51 | 187 | 26.71 |
| Charles Simpson | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 51 | 155 | 22.14 |
| Sid Emery | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50* | 114 | 19.00 |
| Tom Warne | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 112 | 37.33 |
| Norman Dodds | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 53 | 84 | 16.80 |
| Bill Whitty | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 53 | 8.83 |
| Charles Gorry | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11* | 25 | 12.5 |
| Ashley Facy | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7* | 17 | 5.67 |
| Bert Hopkins | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 3.20 |

### Bowling

| Name | Matches | Balls Bowled | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Best Bowling | Average | Strike rate | Economy Rate |
| Bill Whitty | 6 | 1312 | 69 | 510 | 42 | 8/27 | 12.14 | 31.24 | 2.33 |
| Sid Emery | 6 | 552 | 15 | 355 | 22 | 5/20 | 16.14 | 25.09 | 3.86 |
| Warwick Armstrong | 6 | 745 | 27 | 367 | 16 | 4/56 | 22.94 | 46.56 | 2.96 |
| Ashley Facy | 3 | 366 | 12 | 178 | 11 | 7/71 | 16.18 | 33.27 | 2.92 |
| Bert Hopkins | 4 | 375 | 17 | 163 | 9 | 4/34 | 18.11 | 41.67 | 2.61 |
| Tom Warne | 4 | 210 | 6 | 154 | 7 | 5/37 | 22.00 | 30.00 | 4.40 |
| Charles Kelleway | 6 | 276 | 10 | 116 | 5 | 2/1 | 23.20 | 55.20 | 2.52 |
| Charles Simpson | 5 | 232 | 11 | 52 | 1 | 1/5 | 52.00 | 232.00 | 1.34 |