Peter Petherick was fun to tour and play with: John Morrison

Inside the iconic Basin Reserve in Wellington, which remains New Zealand's most famous cricket ground, up the steps of the Old Grandstand, is the New Zealand Cricket Museum. Inside it lies a charming, unique and wholly educational display of memorabilia and history that chronicles the origins of not just the Basin Reserve but that of New Zealand's cricketing journey.
Starting with the voice of John Arlott, that master commentator with the unique ability to paint an intricate picture with his words, one is taken through a magical walk down the years with many former New Zealand players' voices narrating famous matches, performances and instances. Among the rare DVD footage to keep fans of cricket hooked is that of Peter Petherick, speaking to Ian Smith of his famous hat-trick on Test debut against Pakistan in 1976. He speaks of turning back to the home umpire and appealing in despair against Intikhab, his hat-trick victim, and then feeling a wave of relief when the batsman walked.
"I would have been surprised if I had got him lbw," Petherick dryly tells Smith.
That same Petherick passed away on Monday, aged 72. Though his Test career lasted just six matches and produced only 16 wickets at an average of 42.56, that achievement in Lahore, when he was 34, has earned the late Petherick his rightful slice in New Zealand's cricket history because he remains one of only two New Zealand bowlers to achieve the distinction (the second being seamer James Franklin, against Bangladesh in 2004) and one of only three across all teams to do it on Test debut - Maurice Allom and Damien Fleming the others.
Former Test opener John Morrison played alongside Petherick on the tours of Pakistan and India during the 1976-77 season, including Petherick's debut match, and recalls his memories of playing with the late offspinner with .
"We were taking an absolute pummelling from the Pakistani batsmen and Peter had none for around 80 odd from memory off a relatively few overs and suddenly Javed Miandad mistimed a pull shot and was caught on the boundary," he remembers. "This created great excitement as we hadn't got a wicket for around a day. It also seemed to create some chaos in the Pakistan ranks and in walked the left hander Wasim Raja, who had been waiting forever for a bat and assumed I'm sure that he should immediately continue the carnage.
"He belted a fullish delivery straight back at Peter who, much to everyone's surprise including Peter, caught it. It's probably fair to say he pouched it in his reasonably substantial midriff and leapt in the air in great excitement. This then must have created total chaos in the Pakistani shed and we had quite a wait for Intikhab to emerge doing up his pads, readjusting thigh pads etc.
"This was understandable because five minutes earlier I'm sure he was relaxing quietly not imaging he was even going to have a bat. We all hovered around the bat as is customary when someone is on a hat-trick and Peter probably bowled the best ball of the day that spun and lifted a little copping Inty on the gloves and Geoff Howarth dived in and took a very good catch at silly mid-off. Peter was now jumping up and down in wild excitement, here he was moments ago being absolutely slaughtered to all parts of the field and bingo he had a hat-trick!"
That would remain Pethetick's biggest moment as an international cricketer. He played only five more Tests, ending his international career with 16 wickets at an average of 42.56, but on the New Zealand domestic circuit he enjoyed success. He took 189 first-class wickets in 52 appearances and was part of the Otago team that won the Shell Trophy in 1976-77.
"Peter was a good fun guy to tour and play with," remembers Morrison, who played 17 Tests and 18 ODIs between 1973 and 1983. "He thoroughly enjoyed the lighter moments in the park, the dressing room and the bar. He came to light quite late in his cricket career having been a mechanic in Alexandra, Central Otago, he then moved around a bit and we all enjoyed having him in Wellington for a couple of seasons. I am very sorry to hear of his passing."
Morrison recalls another incident from that tour of Pakistan, which stands out in his memory because of Petherick's jovial character. "He was a dreadful batsman, a true number 11, and in fact for quite some considerable time he had more wickets than runs in first-class cricket," he says. "In fact I remember the wild applause that erupted when he hit his first boundary in first-class cricket in Hyderabad, Pakistan. It was a real lame duck effort that just staggered over the boundary - Peter held his bat aloft and acknowledged his team-mate's enthusiastic applause."
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