Glenn Turner was a remarkable cricketer. In a first class career that ran from 1964 to 1983 his list of achievements arguably make him New Zealand's greatest ever batsman. In first class cricket he scored just short of 35,000 runs at an average just under fifty, he is the only New Zealander to score a hundred first class hundreds, the only man to reach his hundredth hundred with a triple century and in 1973 he joined the select band to have scored a thousand first class runs before the end of May.
His international record is no less impressive. At a time when New Zealand were all too often the whipping boys of international cricket he averaged 44.64 in his forty-one tests, twice carried his bat through an innings, converted two of his seven test centuries into doubles and in 1974 he made a century in each innings against Australia at Christchurch. Against the West Indies in 1972 he carried his bat for 223*, which is still a record for any test playing nation. His performances in ODIs weren't too shabby either: he averaged forty-seven and against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup he made 171*, a record score that stood for eight years.
In amongst all of these remarkable feats, however, perhaps the most astonishing came at Swansea at the end of June 1977. Turner was ten years into a fifteen year career at Worcestershire when they took on Glamorgan in what appeared to be a fairly humdrum match between two middling teams (Worcestershire would end the season one place ahead of Glamorgan in thirteenth). There was nothing in the early stages to suggest that something unusual was going to happen as Glamorgan eased their way to 309-4 declared, a declaration that was forced after one hundred overs under the playing regulations of the time. Norman Gifford took three wickets and Mike Llewellyn, who later that summer would come within inches of hitting a six over the pavilion at Lord's, helped himself to ninety-one not out. With the pitch playing pretty easily and neither side blessed with a particularly potent bowling attack a fairly high scoring draw looked to be on the cards.
Tony Cordle and Malcolm Nash had other ideas, however. Cordle had been a mainstay of the Glamorgan attack for years and Nash had reverted to bowling left arm seam up after his experiments with bowling slow left arm had ended in infamy at the hands of Garfield Sobers at the same ground nine years before. Both were decent county bowlers but now they ran through the Worcestershire batting with alarming ease. Turner's opening partner Barry Jones fell for one, followed by Phil Neale (three) and Jim Cumbes (five). As the batsmen fell at one end, however, Turner was providing a master class at the other end. To give some idea of his dominance, numbers two, three and four contributed nine runs between them, but the third wicket fell with the score on sixty-eight.
Cordle and Nash continued to rip through the rest of the batting and Worcestershire were reduced to 93-8 when Turner was joined by Norman Gifford. The redoubtable Gifford hung on while Turner attacked, eventually contributing seven to a partnership of fifty-seven. Paul Pridgeon, not noted for his batting, also hung on during a last wicket partnership of nineteen to which he contributed precisely nothing. After sixty-eight overs, Worcestershire had been bowled out for a paltry 169.
Remarkably, Gifford's seven was the second highest score of the innings. While ten batsmen, including players as talented as Basil D'Oliveira and Dipak Patel, had contributed just twenty-seven runs between them, Turner had made 141 not out , a staggering 83.43% of the total. Unsurprisingly, this is a record that still stands. As for the match, it petered out into a damp draw, but those few souls who had ventured to Swansea had seen arguably the most extraordinary individual innings in first class history.
His international record is no less impressive. At a time when New Zealand were all too often the whipping boys of international cricket he averaged 44.64 in his forty-one tests, twice carried his bat through an innings, converted two of his seven test centuries into doubles and in 1974 he made a century in each innings against Australia at Christchurch. Against the West Indies in 1972 he carried his bat for 223*, which is still a record for any test playing nation. His performances in ODIs weren't too shabby either: he averaged forty-seven and against East Africa in the 1975 World Cup he made 171*, a record score that stood for eight years.
In amongst all of these remarkable feats, however, perhaps the most astonishing came at Swansea at the end of June 1977. Turner was ten years into a fifteen year career at Worcestershire when they took on Glamorgan in what appeared to be a fairly humdrum match between two middling teams (Worcestershire would end the season one place ahead of Glamorgan in thirteenth). There was nothing in the early stages to suggest that something unusual was going to happen as Glamorgan eased their way to 309-4 declared, a declaration that was forced after one hundred overs under the playing regulations of the time. Norman Gifford took three wickets and Mike Llewellyn, who later that summer would come within inches of hitting a six over the pavilion at Lord's, helped himself to ninety-one not out. With the pitch playing pretty easily and neither side blessed with a particularly potent bowling attack a fairly high scoring draw looked to be on the cards.
Tony Cordle and Malcolm Nash had other ideas, however. Cordle had been a mainstay of the Glamorgan attack for years and Nash had reverted to bowling left arm seam up after his experiments with bowling slow left arm had ended in infamy at the hands of Garfield Sobers at the same ground nine years before. Both were decent county bowlers but now they ran through the Worcestershire batting with alarming ease. Turner's opening partner Barry Jones fell for one, followed by Phil Neale (three) and Jim Cumbes (five). As the batsmen fell at one end, however, Turner was providing a master class at the other end. To give some idea of his dominance, numbers two, three and four contributed nine runs between them, but the third wicket fell with the score on sixty-eight.
Cordle and Nash continued to rip through the rest of the batting and Worcestershire were reduced to 93-8 when Turner was joined by Norman Gifford. The redoubtable Gifford hung on while Turner attacked, eventually contributing seven to a partnership of fifty-seven. Paul Pridgeon, not noted for his batting, also hung on during a last wicket partnership of nineteen to which he contributed precisely nothing. After sixty-eight overs, Worcestershire had been bowled out for a paltry 169.
Remarkably, Gifford's seven was the second highest score of the innings. While ten batsmen, including players as talented as Basil D'Oliveira and Dipak Patel, had contributed just twenty-seven runs between them, Turner had made 141 not out , a staggering 83.43% of the total. Unsurprisingly, this is a record that still stands. As for the match, it petered out into a damp draw, but those few souls who had ventured to Swansea had seen arguably the most extraordinary individual innings in first class history.
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