Richard Hadlee proved too much for the Australians in the mid-eighties - and was a handful for the 2018 Black Caps.

When the Black Caps climbed to No 2 in the world test cricket rankings this week, it started full on chat about whether this was the best New Zealand side in history. While that's an impossible question to answer, cricket scribe Ian Anderson matched up two great sides and left them to it.

It's the chat you have with your friends on day three of a test, when batting conditions are most friendly.

Lunch has gone down well, the two sides are grappling for ascendancy and you begin to discuss all the tests and players you've watched.

"Southee and Boult have been great value, but they're not a patch on Hadlee and Chatfield as a new-ball combo," one opines.

GETTY IMAGES Current New Zealand skipper and world-class batsman Kane Williamson.

You, the anorak numpty with an instant recall of stats, try to convince him that the current duo have been more productive, but your buddy doesn't want to let go of his rose-tinted memories.

So the debate starts in earnest, and will eventually fall into a decisive category - what would have happened if the two teams could have met at their peak?

Well, we cricket buffs at Stuff Sport would hate to ruin your summer, but we're a step ahead of you - hence giving you a talking point for the rest of the season.

Here's how a test match would play out should the New Zealand side of 1985 met the current Black Caps.

QUALIFIERS

Neither XI listed here played a specific test during their respective years, we've simply gone with a selected side that should represent the best combination from that season.

STUFF Martin Crowe was the mainstay of the NZ batting through the mid-eighties and early '90s.

So there's no Vaughan Brown from the team which won spectacularly in Brisbane in 1985, nor Ish Sodhi from the side which produced a staggering comeback to win the first test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi late last year.

We've played the match on the Basin Reserve so each side has three seam/swing specialists, a spinner and a couple of other bowling options - Colin de Grandhomme's medium-pace and Kane Williamson's offies for the current side, Jeremy Coney's slow-medium and Martin Crowe's useful inswingers from when his knees still worked.

Each team has effectively five specialist batsmen, an all-rounder and a wicketkeeper-batsman, so they're well-matched.

STRENGTHS

1985: An established opening partnership, the brilliance of Martin Crowe, vast experience in the bowling line-up, a world-class wicketkeeper that doubled as a dangerous lower-order bat and, above everything, one of the greatest opening bowlers in test history.

GETTY IMAGES Current Black Caps pace spearhead Trent Boult.

2019: One of test cricket's most prolific and reliable batsman, and following him, one of NZ's all-time bests. A new-ball pairing better in tandem than any other in our test history, and an athletic keeper who averages nearly 40 with the bat.

WEAKNESSES

1985: John Reid, a tremendous player of spin, was said to be suspect against pace. Jeff Crowe's test average was 26. Ewen Chatfield wasn't going to add valuable quick runs at 11.

2019: An opener without a test century, a rookie left-arm spinner aged 30, an inconsistent all-rounder.

HOW IT PLAYED OUT

Day One: Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bowl. There was a green tinge to the deck at the Basin and we suspected he wasn't keen on giving Hadlee first crack with the cherry.

Tim Southee got Bruce Edgar to nick one to first slip early and when his new-ball partner Trent Boult induced a false shot from John Reid within the first hour, the newer generation held the upper hand.

But John Wright frustrated the swing duo with some well-judged leaves and flicks off his hips and after a cautious beginning, Martin Crowe unfolded some delightful drives to help the 1985 side reach lunch at 66-2.

Wright (38 from 81 balls) perished soon after lunch when Neil Wagner's sharp bouncer caught a glove but Jeremy Coney's wiles against the short ball again solidified the innings.

STUFF Jeremy Coney was a safe pair of hands in the slips and a crafty all-rounder.

Crowe took on Wagner's barrage of bouncers with some fearsome hooks and pulls mixed in with some smooth swaying, yet when it seemed another masterful test ton was promised, Southee produced a perfect outswinger that Crowe (81 from 127 deliveries) couldn't avoid edging to the keeper.

His older brother didn't stay long, but Ian Smith was happy to attack, only for Coney's 99-ball effort for 51 to be ended two overs before the tea break by one that hurried through from Ajaz Patel.

After tea, Smith (32 from 51) and Hadlee (24 from 48) looked to assume the initiative with bold blows but both perished by the sword before the second new ball brought about the end of the innings.

The 2019 side had six overs to survive until stumps but Hadlee removed Jeet Raval in the third over.

Day two:

The 2019 side looked to have combated the new-ball threat of Hadlee and Ewen Chatfield - battling into the wind from the RA Vance Stand end - but Coney asked his strike bowler for one more over and he responded by bringing one back in to trap Tom Latham in front.

Williamson was joined by Ross Taylor and they knuckled down against an accurate attack on a deck which was still offering a little movement. Taylor had little scope for his favourite cut shot against Chatfield, Lance Cairns' inswing and then John Bracewell's off-spin, while Williamson looked to pick up most of his runs forward of the wicket.

/GETTY IMAGES BJ Watling proves a hard batsman for any side to dismiss.

They took their side to lunch at 76-2 and the partnership began to flourish in the next session. Williamson began to the find the gaps in the field off Cairns while Taylor swept Bracewell effectively.

But when the 2019 outfit looked like building a significant first innings lead, Taylor swept and missed, ending a 129-run stand compiled from 188 deliveries. Williamson followed shortly after when he nibbled at one from Chatfield he wished he left alone.

Henry Nicholls and BJ Watling began the rebuilding process and again things looked promising, but Cairns enticed a loose drive from Nicholls and while de Grandhomme contributed a breezy 16 from 14 deliveries, it was the Hadlee show in the final session as he took 3-10 in a mesmerising spell of 22 balls to leave his opponents trailing on the first innings by nine runs.

Wright and Edgar increased that advantage to 25 by stumps.

Day three:

The slight edge the 1985 team held quickly evaporated on a cloudy Saturday in the capital.

Southee and Boult had it swinging like Sinatra and had their rivals three down within an hour, including the massive scalp of Martin Crowe, pinned in front by an inswinging 139kmh yorker from Boult.

SUPPLIED Obstinate opener Bruce Edgar.

Edgar remained obstinate though and found a like partner in Coney as they fought to see off an attack with its tail up. The opener had a life on 33 when Latham spilled a difficult chance low to his right, while Coney was all straight bat and busy feet.

The home crowd heroes put on 70 for the fourth wicket before Edgar couldn't escape a snorter from Wagner and while Jeff Crowe had his second failure, Coney and Smith began to counter-attack. They were happy to hit Boult and Southee over the ring fielders and Coney was accelerating towards the first century of the test when de Grandhomme held one back and the skipper lofted it to Latham at point.

Emboldened by the revival, Smith and Hadlee batted positively but with a hint of discretion, mixing boundaries with stubborn defence and when bad light ended the day almost an hour early, they walked off heads high with their team 269-6 - a lead of 278 with four wickets in hand.

Day four:

A lead of over 350 seemed a distinct possibility when Smith and Hadlee resumed on Sunday, and they had almost reached 300 when Smith hooked Wagner into Southee's bucket hands at backward square.

Williamson opted to use de Grandhomme with the second new ball into the wind, with Southee downwind, and the allrounder ended Hadlee's tilt at putting the game beyond reach when the left-hander sliced him to the captain at gully. De Grandhomme finished with a meritorious 4-44 as the 1985 side were dismissed for 331 on the verge of lunch.

That left the 2019 team requiring 341 for victory, with five sessions available and the weather forecast playing ball.

Raval and Latham set about the chase in positive fashion, trying to halt Hadlee from settling into his methodical rhythm, with the two left-handers proving troublesome.

PHOTOSPORT Ross Taylor works one off his pads.

They saw off the first-innings destroyer while Chatfield plugged away at the other end, with Coney introducing Cairns in the hope he could beat the edge with swing.

But just as the first half-century opening stand of the test loomed, the Naenae Express's persistence paid off when Latham edged to the skipper at second slip. Three overs later, Raval got the finest of edges through to Smith and Coney responded by going back to his strike weapon. knowing that Williamson and Taylor posed the greatest influence on the result.

Hadlee answered the call - two balls after Williamson had driven him exquisitely through extra-cover, an minimal adjustment of line and length brought about a rare false shot and Coney snaffled the chance expertly high to his left.

STUFF Wicketkeeper-batsman Ian Smith could make quick runs in the lower order.

Taylor remained unperturbed however and Nicholls was resolute and the pair ticked the score along before and after tea. They added 60 but just when it felt the pendulum was swinging again, Nicholls edged one from Cairns which moved considerably from leg to off.

That brought Watling to the crease and he knuckled down as Taylor pushed on, cutting and driving when not exhibiting a solid forward defence. He'd struck 11 fours in a 111-ball stay that came undone when he took on Bracewell, only to find Hadlee's hands waiting on the cow-corner boundary.

STUFF Jeremy Coney and Ewen Chatfield were right at home at the Basin Reserve.

De Grandhomme and Wagner fell in quick succession and while Southee went against character to get through to stumps with Watling at 218-7, still 123 short of victory.

Day five:

Southee lasted another 14 balls on the final day before Hadlee got his measure and Watling's brave 144-ball dig ended seven overs into the morning.

That left Patel and Boult needing 79 and the No 11 took the positive approach, slogging 20 off a Chatfield over before Hadlee fittingly had the final say.

QUOTES:

Coney: "It was like a magnificent play at times, wasn't it? Both side strove to overcome those sometimes fatal flaws which can be exposed cruelly. Among that there were some heroics, a moment or two of farce as we strutted and fretted. I hope the audience left feeling sated."

GETTY IMAGES More effective new-ball combination - Hadlee and Chatfield or Boult and Tim Southee?

Williamson: "Yeah, not the ideal result. We'll have to go away and see what positives we can take from it and work on what let us down. They probably managed the bigger moments better than we did."

Hadlee: "I knew if I could get eight in the test it'd see me move into top spot in the world rankings and also set me up for the most wickets in a New Zealand summer since 1937."

SCOREBOARD

NZ 1985

First innings

Edgar c Taylor b Southee 6

Wright c Watling b Wagner 38

J Reid c de Grandhomme b Boult 11

M Crowe c Watling b Southee 82

Coney lbw Patel 51

J Crowe c Taylor b Boult 4

Smith c Boult b Wagner 32

Hadlee b de Grandhomme 24

Bracewell lbw Boult 18

Cairns b Southee 18

Chatfield not out 1

Extras 11

Total 296

Fall: 14, 33, 85, 179, 187, 204, 241, 250, 282.

Bowling: Southee 3-75, Boult 3-59, Wagner 2-73, de Grandhomme 1-29, Patel 1-49.

NZ 2019

First innings

Raval c Smith b Hadlee 4

Latham lbw Hadlee 22

Williamson c Smith b Chatfield 67

Taylor lbw Bracewell 62

Nicholls c Coney b Cairns 23

Watling lbw Bracewell 48

De Grandhomme c Smith b Hadlee 17

Wagner lbw Hadlee 8

Southee c J Crowe b Hadlee 2

Patel not out 6

Boult c Chatfield b Cairns 16

Extras 12

Total 287

Fall: 15, 34, 163, 178, 207, 234, 253, 256, 262, 268.

Bowling: Hadlee 5-70, Chatfield 1-46, Cairns 2-81, Bracewell 2-59, Coney 0-19.

NZ 1985

Second innings

Edgar c Watling b Wagner 63

Wright c Watling b Southee 17

Reid b Boult 8

M Crowe lbw Boult 19

Coney c Latham b de Grandhomme 88

J Crowe lbw de Grandhomme 12

Smith c Southee b Wagner 44

Hadlee c Williamson b de Grandhomme 38

Bracewell c Watling b Southee 6

Cairns c Southee b de Grandhomme 14

Chatfield not out 0

Extras 22

Total 331

Fall: 28, 45, 79, 149, 177, 232, 297, 311, 328.

Bowling: Southee 2-92, Boult 2-77, Wagner 2-68, de Grandhomme 4-44, Patel 0-28

NZ 2019

Second innings

Raval c Smith b Chatfield 33

Latham c Coney b Chatfield 22

Williamson c Coney b Hadlee 9

Taylor c Hadlee b Bracewell 73

Nicholls c Smith b Cairns 27

Watling c Smith b Bracewell 61

De Grandhomme c Edgar b Bracewell 5

Wagner lbw Chatfield 0

Southee lbw Hadlee 12

Patel not out 11

Boult b Hadlee 33

Extras 15

Total 301

Fall: 49, 62, 77, 137, 202, 212, 213, 233, 262.

Bowling: Hadlee 3-69, Chatfield 3-77, Cairns 1-46, Bracewell 3-72, M Crowe 0-22.

NZ 1985 win by 39 runs.

Note: this story originally ran over the holiday period.