Cricketers Jeremy Coney and Haidee Tiffen have been inducted into New Zealand Cricket’s Hall of Fame.
73-year-old Coney featured in 52 Tests from 1974 to 1987. He also played 88 ODIs. The batting all-rounder bowled medium pace. He has more than 4,500 runs in international cricket, and with the ball, he took more than 80 wickets.
He led New Zealand to some important victories, like he was the captain when the Kiwis beat England in England in a Test series for the first time in 1986. He was an important member of the side that reached the semifinals of the 1979 World Cup.
In 1979-80, Coney was also part of the team that stunned the West Indies 1-0 in home Tests. In those days, beating the Caribbean team was considered next to impossible, no matter where you played them.
Tiffen, on the other hand, played international cricket for more than 10 years, from 1999 to 2009. The 46-year-old played all three formats of the game but she particularly succeeded in ODIs. She played 117 ODIs and scored almost 3,000 runs. Like Coney, she also bowled medium pace and was just one short of 50 wickets in ODIs at the time of her retirement.
Both chuffed at the honour!
Tiffen was part of the team that won the 2000 World Cup on home soil. In 2009, she was the captain of the team that reached the final in Australia. However, England beat them in the final. Tiffen was pleased to get the honour.
“It’s a huge honour to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and to be alongside some of my role models already inducted, like Debbie Hockley, Sir Richard Hadlee and Emily Drumm.
“As a young girl from Timaru, representing New Zealand was always a dream.
“Cricket has given me so much, incredible friendships, challenges, and memories that will stay with me forever. I’m very grateful to the game and everyone who supported me along the way,” she said.
Coney, on the other hand, said: “It’s been fun and a challenge. That this range of feelings through good times and bad, competing hard as part of a team, might result in my inclusion alongside those I have admired is a little beyond my expectations yet considerably gratifying.”
Coney and Tiffen are the first additions since the unveiling of the inaugural “first elevens” last year. They were: Bert Sutcliffe, John R. Reid, Jackie Lord, Trish McKelvey, Glenn Turner, Sir Richard Hadlee, Debbie Hockley, Martin Crowe, Emily Drumm, Daniel Vettori, and Brendon McCullum.
