Nickname Mystery Role Cricket Bowler Name John Morrison | Batting style Right-handed | |
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Full name John Francis MacLean Morrison Last Test 19 March 1982 v Australia | ||
Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox | ||
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.
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Cricket career
A dogged batsman, he was also known for his dribbly left-arm spin bowling, including his 'mystery' delivery.
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, and was selected for the next season's tour of Australia. In the three-Test series he was New Zealand's leading run-scorer, with 249 at 41.50. He hit 117, his only Test century, in the Second Test at Sydney. He never regained that Test form, although he did enough to be selected in the Derrick Robins XI tour of South Africa in 1975-76.
His best 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 4 runs.
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. As councilor, Morrison worked to bring an Aussie Rules match to Wellington. 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.
In May 2013, Morrison announced his candidacy for the Wellington mayoralty at the 2013 local elections. He was unsuccessful in challenging incumbent mayor Celia Wade-Brown, meaning that he will no longer be on Wellington City Council, as he contested the mayoralty only.