Seldom were the names of Richard Hadlee and Susan Devoy missing from sports headlines throughout 1985. As well as being competitors from the top drawer, they were outstanding ambassadors for New Zealand. Hadlee’s finest performance in a career sprinkled with magnificent achievements came at Brisbane in November, in the first of three tests against Australia. He took nine wickets for 52 in the first innings and had a match analysis of 15 for 123 to become only, the eighth player in history to take 15 wickets in a test. In the series, Hadlee, aged 34, captured 33 wickets, the best performance in a series by a New Zealander and just two short of the all-time record for three tests. He now requires one wicket to reach the milestone of 300 in tests, a mark attained by only five players. Earlier in the year on the New Zealand tour of the West Indies Hadlee became the sixth player to score 2000 runs and take 200 wickets in test cricket. Devoy, the women’s world squash champion and New Zealand “Sportsman of the Year,” captured the national crowns of seven different countries. The Hamilton player, aged 21, who was unbeaten during the year, holds the open titles of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand. Undoubtedly the high point of her playing year occurred in Dublin on August 30 when she beat England’s Lisa Opie in three games to become New Zealand’s first world squash champion. After winning the world individual title, she then spearheaded New Zealand to second place behind England in the world teams’ title. The 1984 Olympic Games champions in the kayak pairs 500m event, Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald, kept canoeing very much to the fore with their victory in the K2 500m final at the world championships at Hazewinkel, Belgium, m August.

Press, 27 December 1985, Page 17

Seldom were the names of Richard Hadlee and Susan Devoy missing from sports headlines throughout 1985. As well as being competitors from the top drawer, they were outstanding ambassadors for New Zealand. Hadlee’s finest performance in a career sprinkled with magnificent achievements came at Brisbane in November, in the first of three tests against Australia. He took nine wickets for 52 in the first innings and had a match analysis of 15 for 123 to become only, the eighth player in history to take 15 wickets in a test. In the series, Hadlee, aged 34, captured 33 wickets, the best performance in a series by a New Zealander and just two short of the all-time record for three tests. He now requires one wicket to reach the milestone of 300 in tests, a mark attained by only five players. Earlier in the year on the New Zealand tour of the West Indies Hadlee became the sixth player to score 2000 runs and take 200 wickets in test cricket. Devoy, the women’s world squash champion and New Zealand “Sportsman of the Year,” captured the national crowns of seven different countries. The Hamilton player, aged 21, who was unbeaten during the year, holds the open titles of England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Sweden, Switzerland and New Zealand. Undoubtedly the high point of her playing year occurred in Dublin on August 30 when she beat England’s Lisa Opie in three games to become New Zealand’s first world squash champion. After winning the world individual title, she then spearheaded New Zealand to second place behind England in the world teams’ title.

The 1984 Olympic Games champions in the kayak pairs 500m event, Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald, kept canoeing very much to the fore with their victory in the K2 500m final at the world championships at Hazewinkel, Belgium, m August.