Martin Donnelly (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
Martin Paterson Donnelly (17 October 1917 – 22 October 1999) was a New Zealand
Test cricket
er and England
Rugby Union
player.
Born in Ngaruawahia
, New Zealand, Donnelly's twin brother Maurice died in the Spanish flu
epidemic in 1918. His sporting talent emerged quickly and Donnelly became known for his batting and fielding skills, as well as his prowess at Rugby Union. While still a student at New Plymouth Boys' High School
, Donnelly made 49 for Taranaki against the touring MCC
side in January 1936. This led to his first-class
debut in January 1936 for Wellington in a Plunket Shield match against Auckland, in which he made 22 and 38.
Aged only 19, Donnelly was a surprise selection for the 1937 New Zealand tour
of England, having played only one first-class match. After showing more promise than results in the warm up matches, the selectors showed patience and Donnelly made his Test debut in the 1st Test at Lord's
. He made a duck and 21, but remained in the team to make 4 and 37*, and 58 and 0 in the following two Tests. He achieved greater success against the county sides, finishing second in the batting averages, and earned praise from Wisden
, which called him "a star in the making".
Returning to New Zealand, Donnelly moved to Christchurch
in 1938 to attend the University of Canterbury
and play for Canterbury. While there, he won the Redpath Cup as the best batsman in the Plunket Shield in 1939. He also played rugby for Canterbury University, the Canterbury Provincial XV, and for New Zealand Universities. At the completion of his degree, Donnelly returned to Wellington but played only one more first-class match before enlisting in the New Zealand Army
in 1940. Commissioned in 1941, he served as a tank commander in northern Africa and Italy
, rising to the rank of Major. While in Cairo
, he purchased what would become his lucky cap, an old multi-striped number, that he would wear whenever he took the field in his post-war cricketing career.
At war's end, Donnelly was a member of the Dominion
s side that played an England XI at Lord's in 1945, making 133, including a six hit onto the roof of the pavilion, before going up to Worcester College, Oxford
to read History. He played cricket for Oxford University in 1946, scoring six centuries, and then as captain in 1947. He headed the Oxford batting average
s each year, gained a reputation as the best left-hander in the world, and won selection as Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1948. He also played rugby for the University team, achieving success as a fly half, and, less successfully, as centre in the English national rugby side for their match against Ireland
at Lansdowne Road
in Dublin in 1947.
Following his graduation from Oxford, Donnelly commenced working for Courtaulds
while playing cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club
. He continued to impress observers with his attacking style of play, including former champion C B Fry
, who believed Donnelly to be the best left-handed batsman he had seen. In 1960, Neville Cardus
confirmed his opinion that Donnelly was the finest left-handed foreign batsman to play in England since World War II. Donnelly's favourite shot, a legside flick off the pads, often had spectators gasping in admiration, while some commentators suggested he was the best cover-point of all time. In 1948, playing for Warwickshire against Middlesex, he was bowled by left-arm spinner Jack Young
from the wrong side of the stumps, the ball having bounced off his foot and over his head before landing behind the stumps and spinning back to dislodge the bails.
On this form, Donnelly was chosen for the 1949 New Zealand tour of England, where he continued to enhance his reputation, making 462 runs in the Test series at 77.00, including scores of 64, 206, 75 and 80. Donnelly's 206 at Lord's was the first Test double century by a New Zealander and remained the highest New Zealand Test score until Bert Sutcliffe
's 230* against India
at Delhi
in 1955/56.
The 1949 series would prove to be the end of Donnelly's Test career. After four first-class matches in 1950, Courtaulds transferred the newly-married Donnelly to their Sydney office to assume a managerial role. He developed a preference to fishing over cricket, and played his last first-class match in Australia in 1961. In all, Donnelly played just seven Tests, all in England, making 582 runs at 52.90.
A short man (his nickname was Squib), Donnelly is one of only two cricketers (along with Percy Chapman
) to have scored centuries at Lord's in each of the three "classic matches": Test matches (206 for New Zealand against England in 1949), Gentlemen versus Players (scoring 162 for the Gentlemen in 1947) and the University Match (scoring 142 for Oxford against Cambridge in 1946).
Despite having played only 13 of his 131 first-class matches in New Zealand, and in only 7 Test matches, none of which were in New Zealand, he was elevated to the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and died in Sydney on 22 October 1999, survived by his wife, three sons and one daughter.
Donnelly House, one of four houses
at New Plymouth Boys' High School is named in his honour.
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
er and England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
Rugby Union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player.
Born in Ngaruawahia
Ngaruawahia
Ngāruawāhia is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 km north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipa Rivers...
, New Zealand, Donnelly's twin brother Maurice died in the Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
epidemic in 1918. His sporting talent emerged quickly and Donnelly became known for his batting and fielding skills, as well as his prowess at Rugby Union. While still a student at New Plymouth Boys' High School
New Plymouth Boys' High School
New Plymouth Boys' High School is a single-sex boys' state secondary school in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. It was founded in 1882 and celebrated its 125th Jubilee in 2007....
, Donnelly made 49 for Taranaki against the touring MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
side in January 1936. This led to his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut in January 1936 for Wellington in a Plunket Shield match against Auckland, in which he made 22 and 38.
Aged only 19, Donnelly was a surprise selection for the 1937 New Zealand tour
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
of England, having played only one first-class match. After showing more promise than results in the warm up matches, the selectors showed patience and Donnelly made his Test debut in the 1st Test at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
. He made a duck and 21, but remained in the team to make 4 and 37*, and 58 and 0 in the following two Tests. He achieved greater success against the county sides, finishing second in the batting averages, and earned praise from Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, which called him "a star in the making".
Returning to New Zealand, Donnelly moved to Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
in 1938 to attend the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
and play for Canterbury. While there, he won the Redpath Cup as the best batsman in the Plunket Shield in 1939. He also played rugby for Canterbury University, the Canterbury Provincial XV, and for New Zealand Universities. At the completion of his degree, Donnelly returned to Wellington but played only one more first-class match before enlisting in the New Zealand Army
New Zealand Army
The New Zealand Army , is the land component of the New Zealand Defence Force and comprises around 4,500 Regular Force personnel, 2,000 Territorial Force personnel and 500 civilians. Formerly the New Zealand Military Forces, the current name was adopted around 1946...
in 1940. Commissioned in 1941, he served as a tank commander in northern Africa and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, rising to the rank of Major. While in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, he purchased what would become his lucky cap, an old multi-striped number, that he would wear whenever he took the field in his post-war cricketing career.
At war's end, Donnelly was a member of the Dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
s side that played an England XI at Lord's in 1945, making 133, including a six hit onto the roof of the pavilion, before going up to Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
to read History. He played cricket for Oxford University in 1946, scoring six centuries, and then as captain in 1947. He headed the Oxford batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
s each year, gained a reputation as the best left-hander in the world, and won selection as Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1948. He also played rugby for the University team, achieving success as a fly half, and, less successfully, as centre in the English national rugby side for their match against Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
at Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union that has been the location of a number of sports stadiums. It was used primarily for rugby union and for association football matches as well as some music concerts...
in Dublin in 1947.
Following his graduation from Oxford, Donnelly commenced working for Courtaulds
Courtaulds
Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals.-Foundation:The Company was founded by George Courtauld and his cousin Peter Taylor in 1794 as a silk, crepe and textile business at Pebmarsh in north Essex trading as George Courtauld & Co...
while playing cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
. He continued to impress observers with his attacking style of play, including former champion C B Fry
C B Fry
Charles Burgess Fry, known as C. B. Fry was an English polymath; an outstanding sportsman, politician, diplomat, academic, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer...
, who believed Donnelly to be the best left-handed batsman he had seen. In 1960, Neville Cardus
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
confirmed his opinion that Donnelly was the finest left-handed foreign batsman to play in England since World War II. Donnelly's favourite shot, a legside flick off the pads, often had spectators gasping in admiration, while some commentators suggested he was the best cover-point of all time. In 1948, playing for Warwickshire against Middlesex, he was bowled by left-arm spinner Jack Young
Jack Young (cricketer)
John Albert "Jack" Young was an English cricketer, who played for Middlesex and England. His first-class cricket career lasted from 1933 to 1956....
from the wrong side of the stumps, the ball having bounced off his foot and over his head before landing behind the stumps and spinning back to dislodge the bails.
On this form, Donnelly was chosen for the 1949 New Zealand tour of England, where he continued to enhance his reputation, making 462 runs in the Test series at 77.00, including scores of 64, 206, 75 and 80. Donnelly's 206 at Lord's was the first Test double century by a New Zealander and remained the highest New Zealand Test score until Bert Sutcliffe
Bert Sutcliffe
Bert Sutcliffe MBE was a New Zealand Test cricketer. Sutcliffe was a successful left-hand batsman. His batting achievements on tour in England in 1949, which included four fifties and a century in the Tests, earned him the accolade of being one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year...
's 230* against India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
at Delhi
Feroz Shah Kotla
The Feroz Shah Kotla or Kotla was originally a fortress built by Sultan Ferozshah Tughlaq to house his version of Delhi city called Ferozabad. A pristine polished sandstone pillar from the 3rd century B.C...
in 1955/56.
The 1949 series would prove to be the end of Donnelly's Test career. After four first-class matches in 1950, Courtaulds transferred the newly-married Donnelly to their Sydney office to assume a managerial role. He developed a preference to fishing over cricket, and played his last first-class match in Australia in 1961. In all, Donnelly played just seven Tests, all in England, making 582 runs at 52.90.
A short man (his nickname was Squib), Donnelly is one of only two cricketers (along with Percy Chapman
Percy Chapman
Arthur Percy Frank Chapman was an English cricketer who captained England to a then English-record-equalling seven consecutive Test match wins, a record that was not surpassed until Michael Vaughan's team won eight in a row in 2004...
) to have scored centuries at Lord's in each of the three "classic matches": Test matches (206 for New Zealand against England in 1949), Gentlemen versus Players (scoring 162 for the Gentlemen in 1947) and the University Match (scoring 142 for Oxford against Cambridge in 1946).
Despite having played only 13 of his 131 first-class matches in New Zealand, and in only 7 Test matches, none of which were in New Zealand, he was elevated to the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and died in Sydney on 22 October 1999, survived by his wife, three sons and one daughter.
Donnelly House, one of four houses
House system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
at New Plymouth Boys' High School is named in his honour.
External links
- Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1948, from CricinfoCricinfoESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
- Martin Donnelly – Summer sun on a winter’s day, Trevor Chesterfield, 25 October 1999, from CricinfoCricinfoESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
- Rugby profile on scrum dot com