History of cricket in New Zealand from 1945–46 to 1970
Domestic first-class cricket in New Zealand during this period centred on the Plunket Shield, which was the State Championship from 1906 to 1975.They beat Canterbury, Otago and Wellington, and drew against Auckland and New Zealand (not a Test match).Between mid-February and early April an Australian team captained by Ian Craig played 12 matches, seven of them first-class.The International XI was captained by Richie Benaud and included Everton Weekes, Tom Graveney, Bob Simpson and Sonny Ramadhin.See : CricketArchive tour itinerary Between mid-February and late March, while the Australian Test team was touring South Africa, an Australian team captained by Les Favell played each of the six provinces (all first-class matches except for Otago) and four matches against New Zealand.