Story: Cricket

Centuries by Dempster and Mills, 1930

New Zealand was beaten in its first official test against England in January 1930 at Lancaster Park, Christchurch. In the second test at the Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand did much better. In the first innings the opening batsmen, Stewie Dempster and Jackie Mills, put on an opening stand of 276. In 2014, after 99 tests and over 80 years, this was still New Zealand's largest opening stand against England. This photograph of the scoreboard at the Basin Reserve shows the two opening batsmen with their scores at 100. Dempster got to the mark first and went on to score 136, and then 80 not out in the second innings. Mills made 117 and New Zealand's first innings reached 440. Although on top throughout the three-day test, New Zealand was unable to achieve a victory and the result was a draw.

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Private collection, Don Neely

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How to cite this page:

Don Neely, 'Cricket - International cricket before the Second World War', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/38299/centuries-by-dempster-and-mills-1930 (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Don Neely, published 5 Sep 2013, updated 1 Apr 2016