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John Francis Maclean Morrison MNZM (born 27 August 1947 in Wellington) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played 17 Tests and 18 One Day Internationals for New Zealand. From 1998 to 2013, he was a Wellington City Councillor; his political career ended when he stood for mayor only.

John Morrison

MNZM

Personal information
Full name	John Francis MacLean Morrison
Born	(1947-08-27) 27 August 1947 (age 75) Wellington, New Zealand
Nickname	Mystery
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Slow left-arm orthodox
Role	Batsman
International information
National side	New Zealand (1973–1983)
Test debut (cap 128)	29 December 1973 v Australia
Last Test	19 March 1982 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 20)	9 March 1975 v England
Last ODI	17 March 1983 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1965/66–1966/67	Central Districts
1967/68–1983/84	Wellington
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 17 18 126 54 Runs scored 656 252 6,142 1,312 Batting average 22.62 21.00 30.71 31.23 100s/50s 1/3 0/1 7/32 0/10 Top score 117 55 180* 89 Balls bowled 264 283 4,407 576 Wickets 2 8 51 12 Bowling average 35.50 24.87 31.50 34.75 5 wickets in innings 0 0 1 0 10 wickets in match 0 – 0 0 Best bowling 2/52 3/24 5/69 3/24 Catches/stumpings 9/– 6/– 133/– 21/–
Source: Cricinfo, 3 December 2016

Cricket career

A dogged right-handed opening batsman, Morrison was also known for his occasional left-arm spin bowling, including his 'mystery' delivery.[1] After several seasons of moderate performances in domestic cricket he hit 180 not out (which remained his highest first-class score) for Wellington against Northern Districts at Wellington in 1972–73,[2] and was selected for the next season's tour of Australia. In the three-Test series he was the leading run-scorer on either side, with 249 at an average of 41.50. He hit 117, his only Test century, in the Second Test at Sydney.[3] He never regained that Test form, although he did enough to be selected in the International Wanderers XI tour of South Africa in 1975–76.[4]

His best first-class bowling came for Wellington against Auckland at Auckland in 1977–78, when he took 5 for 69 in Auckland's second innings and followed up with 106 to lead a run chase which ended with Wellington losing by four runs.[5]

Local-body politics

Since retiring from playing he has worked as a commentator and in local politics, including serving on the Wellington City Council for the Western Ward since 1998.[6] As councilor, Morrison worked to bring an Aussie Rules match to Wellington.[7] A match was held on Anzac Day 2013 between St Kilda and the Sydney Swans. Shortly afterwards Morrison and businessman John Dow brokered a deal with Australian firm CallActive to bring "300 to 500" call-centre jobs to Wellington.[8]

In May 2013, Morrison announced his candidacy for the Wellington mayoralty at the 2013 local elections.[9] He was unsuccessful in challenging incumbent mayor Celia Wade-Brown, meaning that he was no longer on Wellington City Council, as he had contested the mayoralty only.[10]

In July 2019, a new centre-right political party, the Wellington Party, announced candidates for the 2019 local government elections would include Morrison.[11] However, he did not appear on the final list of candidates.

Other roles

After finishing as a Wellington City Councillor in 2013, Morrison took on a role as CallActive's business development manager but left before the centre went into liquidation in 2015.[12]

Honours and awards

In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours, Morrison was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to cricket and the community.[13]

References

External links

• Wellington City Council website profile
• John Morrison at ESPNcricinfo

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