Australia had been unaccommodating neighbours since New Zealand became a Test nation in 1930, only hosting them on two occasions over the next 55 years, for a grand total of six Test matches. The justification, so the Aussies said, was that the two sides were mismatched; the Kiwis simply didn’t have the quality to compete.

However, by the time New Zealand crossed the Tasman in late 1985, the balance had begun to shift. Under the captaincy of Geoff Howarth the former minnows had claimed the notable scalps of West Indies, England and Pakistan on home soil, as well as defeating Sri Lanka overseas – only the second series win outside of New Zealand in their history.

Australia, meanwhile, had suffered three series defeats on the bounce, including a 3-1 Ashes humbling in the English summer of 1985, and lost several players to the rebel tour of South Africa. With New Zealand having bloodied the nose of their neighbours during a drawn series in 1982, this was their opportunity to land a killer blow.

With Howarth sacked a few months earlier after an extended slump in form with the bat, the tour was Jeremy Coney’s first assignment since being named captain. His star player, the prolific seam bowler Richard Hadlee, wasn’t overly impressed with the appointment.

Australia fought back with a four-wicket victory at Sydney – a defeat which Hadlee attributed to a “number of miscalculated decisions” on Coney’s part, including not bowling him at the appropriate time – but still couldn’t contain New Zealand’s swing king, who continued his superb form with seven more wickets.

A slowish pitch for the deciding Test at Perth again played into New Zealand’s hands, as Hadlee and Chatfield shared eight wickets to dismiss Australia for 203 on the first day. And after Crowe’s patient 71 gave the Kiwis a first-innings lead of 96, Hadlee’s fifth five-wicket haul in six innings set the tourists up for a historic first-ever series victory against their rivals. His final series haul of 33 was the most in a three-Test series since Sydney Barnes in 1912. No one has bettered it since.

It proved a watershed victory for New Zealand, who defeated Australia at home and England away in their next two series before holding the Windies to a 1-1 draw in 1987. For Hadlee, who in 1990 became the first bowler to take 400 Test wickets, it was the zenith of his career.

“The entire series was an expression of New Zealand Test cricket’s total evolution,” he wrote. “It was quite clearly my peak as a Test bowler, the series in which I proved to myself that I could perform consistently in any conditions. I’d had success on other tours before but this series was a revelation to me. I felt I’d moved up to another plane.”