Graham Ellery Vivian (born 28 February 1946) is a former New Zealand

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played in five

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

and one

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) from 1965 to 1972. He made his Test match debut without previously playing in a first-class match. His father,

Giff Vivian Henry Gifford Vivian (4 November 1912 – 12 August 1983) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in seven Test cricket, Test matches between 1931 and 1937. Cricket career After attending Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland,R.T. Brittenden ...

, played seven Tests for New Zealand in the 1930s. Both father and son were selected in New Zealand touring teams, in 1930 and 1965 respectively, at the age of 18. Vivian became a successful businessman, establishing the synthetic-turf company Tiger Turf in 1981.

Cricket career

After some fine performances as a leg-spinning all-rounder for the

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Under-20 side in the 1964-65 Brabin Tournament (23 wickets at 10.47 in three matches), Vivian was selected to tour India, Pakistan and England in 1965 with the national team. He played his first Test just after his nineteenth birthday, against India in Calcutta, without having played a first-class match. He made a useful 43 in the second innings, coming in when New Zealand were struggling at 103 for 7 and helping the side avoid defeat. On the England leg of the tour he played eight first-class matches but was unsuccessful with bat or ball, and did not play a Test. He toured the West Indies in 1971–72 and played four Tests but without success. However, his fielding was outstanding:

Henry Blofeld Henry Calthorpe Blofeld (born 23 September 1939), nicknamed Blowers by Brian Johnston, is an English retired sports journalist, broadcaster and amateur ornithologist best known as a cricket commentator for '' Test Match Special'' on BBC Radi ...

described the 1971-72 New Zealanders' fielding as "the most impressive I have ever seen from any side anywhere", and he singled out Vivian as "the best of all". He continued to play domestic cricket in New Zealand until 1978–79, but never played another Test. Vivian's best first-class bowling figures were 5 for 59 for Auckland against

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

at Auckland in 1967–68. On a brief non-Test tour of Australia in 1969-70 he hit his highest first-class score (and first century) of 137 not out against

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in Melbourne, out of a New Zealand total of 220, having gone to the crease at 22 for 4.

After cricket

Vivian worked for

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from 1970 to 1981, becoming general manager for New Zealand. In 1981 he established a company, Tiger Turf, manufacturing synthetic turf for sports grounds. By 2007 its New Zealand factory was weaving 950,000 square metres of various kinds of turf a year. He sold the company in 2010. He has been president of the Auckland Cricket Association, and is a life member of the

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

Trust and a life trustee of the

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Trust. As of 2024 he is a director of the New Zealand company Wood Engineering Technology.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vivian, Graham 1946 births Living people Auckland cricketers Cricketers from Auckland New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers New Zealand people of Cornish descent North Island cricketers New Zealand company founders