A superb cricketing all-rounder who was the captain and mainstay of the
New Zealand team in the 1950s and 60sJohn Reid, who has died aged 92, was in large part responsible for establishing New Zealand as a respected force in world
Cricket. A superb all-rounder who was the captain and mainstay of his national side in the 1950s and 60s, he managed through great skill and sheer force of personality not only to lead New Zealand to their first Test victory, in 1956, but to maintain his team’s competitiveness at international level thereafter.
The extent of that achievement can be gauged by the fact that when Reid arrived on the world stage in 1949 many felt that New Zealand, with a population of less than two million and a largely amateur domestic set-up, hardly deserved their Test status at all. Most of the team’s players were barely up to the mark and Australia refused even to play them on an official basis.