During a World Series Cricket tournament in Australia in the Eighties, New Zealand was going through one its recurring periods of having its strike bowler frequently absent through injury.

On one such occasion and playing against Australia, members in the ever-objective and neutral Aussie crowd unfurled a banner which had the words I've used as the title. The "Paddles" in question was the nickname of one R.J. Hadlee, given to him, according to teammate and batting icon Glenn Turner, because of his shoe size!

There was undoubtedly some solid reasoning behind the crowd's facetiousness. Very few have carried the sporting fortunes of their country on their shoulders as successfully or as often as Hadlee.Not five years after being introduced to the unforgiving arena of Test cricket,for example, Hadlee had dismantled the touring English at the nation's capital taking 10 wickets in the match, with 6-26 in the second innings.The Mother Country got their first sight of victorious Kiwis in flight.

One of five sons of Walter Hadlee - former New Zealand captain and soon-to-be chairman of selectors - Richard obviously had cricket in the blood, if not on the brain.Debuting during New Zealand's summer of'71-'72 for Canterbury(always, to this day a side to be reckoned with), he formed a successful opening double act with elder sibling Dayle.

Young and inexperienced as he was, aggression and blistering pace was all he about at that time. With time and age came guile; the run-up shortened (as did the length of his hair!); a whiplash side action developed which got the gas out of the deadest, flattest tracks.

As mentioned, England was the first international side to feel the lash. But, as with so very many Kiwi sportspeople, he hoarded his wrathful best for Australia.

New Zealand toured the Great Southern Land in 1985-86. Accompanying Hadlee were no lesser lights that Martin Crowe John Wright and Hadlee's foil and partner-in-destruction, Ewen Chatfield.
Coming to the morning of the First Test at Brisbane, Hadllee recalls "low, sulky clouds holding down fierce Brisbane heat" - what one Australian commentator recognised as "once-in-a-lifetime conditions."

From a mere ten-pace run, Hadlee sighted Andrew Hillditch, whom he nicknames "the Happy Hooker for his penchant for swatting the ball. Caught by Chatfield, he is replaced by the dangerous David Boon, who is soon depatched by second slip, and is followed to the dressing room straight after lunch by Border and Greg Ritchie.

With South Africa still in sporting limbo, Kepler Wessels is playing for Australia; he and Wayne Phillips "hung on grimly" for the deteriorating light to halt the day's play before tea. Australia are 4-164.

Hadlee seemed mad-keen to make up for the time lost the previous day. Wessels, McDermott, Phillips and Greg Matthews came, saw and were conquered in short order. First/Eighth blood to Hadlee, then. Perhaps he thought Geoff Lawson spoilt what was shaping to be a great day by skying a Vaughan Brown offspinner. But you'll never guess who caught it!

Being a hog on his day, Richard then cleaned out Bob Holland in his 24th over.

Even Hadlee was stupefied by his performance. He said in his autobiography, Rhythmn And Swing that the ball was doing everything except talk. The scale of his feats were put into focus when New Zealand batted; two centurions in Martin Crowe and John Reid, with Hadlee chiming in with a 45-ball 54 that included four boundaries and three over the ropes.

Then, more incredible scenes! Needing to amass 375 runs, to have another go at Kiwi bats, the stunned Ausiie crowd read the scoreboard in disbelief: stark defeat by an innings and 41; only Border came out of this debacle with anything resembling dignity - his 152 after more than seven hours dedication was the only Australian flag waving that day that wasn't white.

Perhaps surprisingly, the home team recovered manfully from what must have felt like chronic shell shock to record a win in the Second Test at Sydney. But, at Perth, Hadlee again put them to the sword, taking 11 of the 20 wickets for just 155 runs

On February 4,1990, Hadlee was still only in double figures for his Test match tally. Bowling to India in just his 79th Test at his beloved Lancaster Park, Christchurch, he comprehensively beat Sanjay Manjrekar, thus becoming the first to take a for the 400th time.

Five months later, at his second home at Trent Bridge, New Zealand's greatest performer took his curtain call. A second-innings 5-53 - the fifth with the last delivery he would ever direct in hostlity - epitomised both Hadllee and his value to cricket, both in New Zealand and internationally.

His figures speak as eloquently as his bowling: 431 wickets at 22 each; 36 "bags" of five and nine of ten (it took a Muralitharan to overhaul those two).

Bowling averages

OK, that's Hadlee the bowler. But he was recognised as one of four or five of the great all-rounders of the Eighties (along with Beefy, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Clive Rice).So, what of Hadlee the batsman?

Picture it , if you will; you're a lowly No, 8 batsman, coming out to face the most fearsome fast-ball attack squad on the planet - the West Indies.

Ninety-two balls later, you saunter off, with your very first 100 Test runs under your belt. You are Richard Hadlee. With your Notts team mates, you will face Yorkkshire, mauling them for a personal haul of 142 runs and counting, Oh, the game's over.

Simplicity best describes Hadlee's 'theories' with ball and bat. As a bowler, the batsman was an uncocsionable obstacle which had to be removed; as a batsman, the ball was there to be hit as hard and as often as possible.

Batting Averages