Where are they now? Cricketer turned councillor John ‘Mystery’ Morrison

Sunday, 3 August 2025

John Morrison speaks during his final Wellington City Council meeting in 2013.

John ‘Mystery’ Morrison has an opinion on most things.

The top or middle order batter, and occasional left-arm spinner, played 17 tests and 18 ODIs for New Zealand between 1973-83.

His finest hour came in his second test, scoring a second innings century against Australia at the SCG in a draw, his lone international ton. Morrison featured at the first two Cricket World Cups in 1975 and 1979, both held in England.

He later got into local government, serving as a Wellington City councillor from 1998-2013 and ran for mayor in 2013, losing to Celia Wade-Brown.

TVNZ cricket commentators John Wright and John Morrison inspect the pitch in 1994.

Morrison, 77, speaks to Brendon Egan in this week’s ‘Where are they now?’.

You made your test debut against Australia at the MCG in 1973. What do you recall about that tough initiation?

I got two bats in one afternoon because I was No 6 and Glenn Turner got his finger broken and he was out and I think I was second last guy out. I got 44 and [captain] Bevan Congdon turns around and said, ‘Well Mystery, you’ll open’. I said, ‘I’ve only just come in’, so I got another bat straight away. I got shafted actually by the Aussie umpires. I was given out caught behind for 16.

Congo [Congdon] is a fairly hard taskmaster and I had a passion for sweeping. He said, ‘Mystery, if you get out sweeping in this test it will be the last f…ing test you ever play’. I’m out there poking and prodding and he comes in and about the second ball he goes out and sweeps it and gets a top edge and it’s caught by [Rod] Marsh. I’m at the other end thinking, ‘Shit, I’m not allowed to sweep and you do it as soon as you arrive’.

How much grief did the Australians give you?

New Zealand’s John Morrison clings to the ball only inches from the ground to dismiss Australia’s Doug Walters at the Basin Reserve in 1974.

You’ve got to remember there weren’t stump mics back then. They could have a fair go. They gave me the full run-down on my mother’s inadequacies and my shortcomings and where I could shove most things and what a little prick I was. They had wonderful command of the English language, the Aussies…

The sledging never worried me. I just shut my mind off or just told them to get f…ed. Some of the guys got pretty upset.

You scored 117 opening in the second innings of the second test at the SCG. What sticks in your mind?

John Parker and I opened and the first innings I got 28 and then the second innings I just felt I’d try and get in there and just bloody bat. I didn’t get dropped at all. I remember coming off and an Aussie saying to me up through that Members’ area, he said, ‘Mate you can die happy now. It doesn’t matter what you do now. You got 100 against Australia at the SCG’. I said, ‘Thanks for the advice mate’.

Wellington City councillor John Morrison pictured with the Commonwealth Games baton on its tour of New Zealand in 2006.

It was a thrill getting a ton, particularly at the SCG against Australia. I was up in a Sixes competition three months ago in Thailand and there were 28 teams there, quite a few Aussies. They came up and said, ‘Shit mate you got the holy grail. You got the bloody 100 against Australia at the SCG’. I said, ‘I don’t know about that’… It was good fun mate.

Wellington captain John Morrison’s helmet crashes onto the stumps as the West Indies’ Joel Garner claims the wicket in 1980.

Do you regret not kicking on and scoring more test runs?

I should have really. I stuffed up a bit in India and Pakistan in ‘76. I didn’t play very well. The previous year I got a couple of 58s against England, opening at Eden Park and I should have kicked on then. The India, Pakistan tours, it wasn’t easy then. The pitches were pretty dodgy and the local umpires were even dodgier. It’s a bit better now because at least you’ve got TV and ICC umpires… You had one manager and everyone had the shits a bit. As many toured up there know it beats the Jenny Craig [weight loss] system.

TVNZ commentators Glenn Turner and John Morrison provide the pitch report at Christchurch’s Lancaster Park in 1994.

What were the post-match antics like in your days?

There were a number of nights that were like the last night on the Titanic. I’m bloody glad there weren’t guys with cell phones around. We certainly enjoyed ourselves. What we did then we wouldn’t get away with now, I don’t believe. You’re under scrutiny, there’s cell phones everywhere. It almost seems to be an industry. I had a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. We had some good nights, don’t worry about that.

You captained Wellington to a famous three-day win over a star-studded touring West Indies team at the Hutt Recreation Ground in 1980. How did you do it?

Former New Zealand batter John Morrison pictured at home in Wellington with some of his cricket memorabilia in 2002.

We had a really good mob playing for Wellington. We had a good spirit. For two to three seasons we had about 12 players who played for the whole season. We were a pretty tight group. It was a thrill. It was one of the first years of helmets and I hadn’t worn a bloody helmet and I wore one. They didn’t have straps and Joel Garner knocked it off my head and it landed on the wickets. I invented a new way to get out. The helmet on wicket, which was a bit of a bugger.

It was a pretty good win. Their four fast bowlers were [Michael] Holding, Garner, [Malcolm] Marshall, [Colin] Croft. It’s not a bad line-up is it? There was no reprieve. We had a big night after that one.

Then St Kilda AFL coach Scott Watters talks with Wellington City councillorJohn Morrison during a visit to Wellington in 2013.

Scariest fast bowler you ever faced?

I did bat No 3 in 1982 [for New Zealand], they hooked me in because there was a sudden spate of back injuries from top order batsmen. Thommo [Jeff Thomson] and [Dennis] Lillee were over here and there was about a 40 mile an hour northerly up Thommo’s arse. I went in at No 3 and interestingly having a beer with Rod Marsh and the two Chappell’s, who were first and second slip, afterwards they said that’s the quickest they’ve ever seen Thommo bowl.

I must admit when you get out there and take centre and the keeper is about 45m back, you know it’s going to whistle past. I got a top edge, just the shoulder of the bat, and it half volleyed into the fence at the Basin and the Basin has got quite long boundaries. I went up to Bruce Edgar at the other end and [Terry] Alderman was bowling into the wind. It was a pretty strong wind. I said, ‘How about a single?’, and he said, ‘You don’t think I’m f…en stupid do you?’.

The most difficult of the West Indies I found was Joel Garner, mainly because of his height. It came from such a high angle. Even when it was reasonably pitched up it was coming into your ribs. He looked like he was closer than he should be and it was a no ball.

Guest Speaker John Morrison at the Auckland Cricket awards dinner in 2015.

You played in the first two Cricket World Cups in 1975 and 1979. How radical was that to what we see today?

It was 60-overs per side and there were no fielding restrictions, so you could put everybody on the boundary and that’s what the Poms did to us in one game. You literally struggled to get a four. They sealed off the boundary and gave away ones, maybe two, but often ones. It was a different ball game [in 1975].

John Morrison pictured at the Basin Reserve in 2009, where he played so much cricket.

I also went in ‘79 and we should have beaten England. We made a few cock-ups, to be honest. I was 12th man [for the semifinal against England], but I tried to persuade Mark Burgess and [manager] Graham Dowling to open up with Glenn Turner. I said, ‘If Turner gets in mate this game is done and dusted’. He batted about five or six and we got behind. We just lost our way and lost by nine runs. That would have taken us to the final at Lord’s. That was a real lost opportunity.

What are you most proud of from your time as a Wellington City councillor?

I really strived in terms of sport and events, I realised most of the sports grounds in Wellington were crap. They’re filled in gullies or shaved off hilltops because you know the contour of the land. There’s no flat land. In winter we were being cancelled all the time, the kids stuff was being cancelled.

I thought the only answer was artificials. I managed to get about six to eight artificials with lights and I also did a deal with Wellington College and St Pats that they could use it half the day and the community could use it the other half. Grounds that were doing seven-eight hours a week, because once they’re cut up it was hard to recover, were now doing 100 hours a week. That’s taken a lot of pressure off the turf pitches as well.

I was also a big driver behind the community indoor sports stadium [Ākau Tangi Sports Centre in Kilbirnie], which is out reasonably near the airport. We had a real battle with that. I got that over the line.

I had a lot of interest in events and we really tried in my era to make Wellington a cultural and sporting centre. We got the AFL, we got David Beckham [and the LA Galaxy], we got the Bahrain football game [2010 Fifa World Cup qualifier], the Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams, Neil Diamond, The Edinburgh Tattoo. I spent half the time trying to tee those things up.

What do you make of so many New Zealand cricketers taking up casual playing deals now and not being centrally contracted?

I think it will get worse and more difficult. New Zealand Cricket has got to be careful it doesn’t become obsolete. The other problem is our domestic cricket. I think we should have done a deal with Australia years ago and we should be in the Big Bash and mixing it with Australia. I think our administration has been remiss not doing that. We’ve got to be careful our domestic cricket doesn’t just fade away…

We do need to hold New Zealand at the top of the list, playing for it, but it’s bloody hard when you get a call from the IPL and here’s a million bucks mate for six weeks. I’d be the first to admit it’s a dilemma and a problem, but I think we’ve got to address it front on, or we’re in danger.

What keeps you busy today?

I live in Manakau [in the Horowhenua], which is just north of Ōtaki. It’s not in the country, but almost in the country. With the new Transmission Gully it’s only [a short drive from Wellington]. I’ve owned a house for about four-five years. I’m up here permanently, but I do move around a wee bit. I’ve been here about a year or so.

I’ve still got pretty close cricket connections in Wellington and around the country, and the New Zealand Cricket Foundation. We support junior and youth cricket. We started in the early 70s. I’m the last of The Mohicans really. We’ve given away over $6million bucks to youth and junior cricket. Basically it’s an independent body run by business people to support cricket. I’m a life member of Cricket Wellington and still do a bit of youth coaching.