New Zealand 26 All Out — Lowest Test Total in History, Auckland 1955

New Zealand had played Test cricket since 1930 but had never won, and their batting was historically thin. The Auckland match was a chance to round out a tour that had already produced a Wellington draw. England were experimenting after Tyson's heroics in the Ashes.

Appleyard, returning from tuberculosis, had taken four wickets in the first innings. The pitch had cracked overnight, and Hutton brought Appleyard on inside the first hour of the second innings.

England, captained by Len Hutton, had arrived in New Zealand after retaining the Ashes in Australia. The Auckland Test was the second of a two-match series. England, batting first, were dismissed for 246 with Tom Graveney scoring 41. New Zealand replied with 200 — Bert Sutcliffe 49, John Reid 73 — to trail by 46.

On the fourth morning, on a wearing pitch with overhead cloud, New Zealand began their second innings needing to bat out the day for a draw or set up an unlikely chase. Statham, Frank Tyson, Appleyard and Johnny Wardle attacked. Sutcliffe top-scored with 11. Eight batsmen made ducks. The innings folded in 27 overs. Appleyard's 4 for 7 included a wicket maiden in his first over and a five-ball burst that took three wickets. Statham hit the stumps three times.

New Zealand's score was the third sub-30 total in Tests, after South Africa's 30 at Port Elizabeth in 1896 and the same opponent's 30 at Birmingham in 1924. Twenty-eight runs short of the previous record was a margin no later side has come close to bridging.

“Once they lost two wickets they had nowhere to hide on that pitch.”

“We never recovered as a Test side from that hour at Eden Park.”

England won by an innings and 20 runs. The series ended 2-0. New Zealand's struggle with batting depth continued for another decade; they did not win their first Test until the following year.

Appleyard's career was brief but bright; he played only 9 Tests due to recurring health problems. The 26 still appears in every record book and is the standard answer to the trivia question of cricket's lowest Test total.