Bert Sutcliffe

For the earlier English Test cricketer, see Herbert Sutcliffe.

Bert Sutcliffe

Personal information
Full name	Bert Sutcliffe
Born	17 November 1923(1923-11-17) Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand
Died	20 April 2001(2001-04-20) (aged 77) Auckland, New Zealand
Batting style	Left-hand bat
Bowling style	Slow left-arm orthodox
International information
National side	New Zealand
Test debut	21 March 1947 v England
Last Test	27 May 1965 v England
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	First-class
Matches	42	233
Runs scored	2727	17447
Batting average	40.10	47.41
100s/50s	5/15	44/83
Top score	230*	385
Balls bowled	538	5978
Wickets	4	86
Bowling average	86.00	38.05
5 wickets in innings	0	2
10 wickets in match	0	0
Best bowling	2/38	5/19
Catches/stumpings	20/-	160/1
Source: CricketArchive, {{{date}}} {{{year}}}

Bert Sutcliffe MBE (17 November 1923 in Ponsonby, New Zealand – 20 April 2001 in Auckland, New Zealand) 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. He captained New Zealand in four Tests in the early 1950s, losing three of them and drawing the other. None of Sutcliffe's 42 Tests resulted in a New Zealand victory. In 1949 Sutcliffe was named the inaugural New Zealand Sportsman of the Year, and in 2000 was named as New Zealand champion sportsperson of the decade for the 1940s.

Batting highlights

Sutcliffe established himself when he scored 197 and 128 in the same match against MCC at Dunedin in 1946–47. On the 1949 tour of England, he scored 243 and 100 not out in the same match against Essex at Southend, going on to total 2,627 runs on the tour at an average of 59.70. He made two triple-hundreds in his career with 355 for Otago against Auckland in 1949–50 and 385 against Canterbury in 1952–53. Playing for New Zealand against India at New Delhi in 1955–56, he scored 230 not out which was then a record for New Zealand.

New Zealand tour of South Africa: 1953–54

Sutcliffe is especially noted for an innings of 80 not out against South Africa in Johannesburg on Boxing Day 1953. New Zealand's batsmen were routed by South African fast bowler Neil Adcock on a green wicket. Sutcliffe was hit in the head by Adcock and, having left the field to receive hospital treatment, returned to the crease swathed in bandages. He took on the bowling, hitting a number of sixes, until the ninth wicket fell. The New Zealand fast bowler Bob Blair, next man in, was understood to be back at the team hotel distraught as his fiancee had been killed in the Tangiwai disaster two days earlier. Sutcliffe started to walk off only to see Blair walk out. Despite the presence of 23,000 fans, silence enveloped the ground. 33 runs were added in 10 minutes before Blair was out. New Zealand lost the Test match by a considerable margin. Notwithstanding this, the noted New Zealand cricket writer Dick Brittenden said: "It was a great and glorious victory, a story every New Zealand boy should learn at his mother's knee".^{[citation needed]}

Retirement

Bert Sutcliffe's career performance graph.

After Sutcliffe retired from cricket he became a coach. Sutcliffe was recently inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Style and technique

Sutcliffe is described in Barclays World of Cricket as one of New Zealand's "most productive and cultured batsmen".

External links

• Player profile: Bert Sutcliffe from CricketArchive
• Player profile: Bert Sutcliffe from ESPNcricinfo

Bibliography

• Romanos, Joseph (2001). New Zealand Sporting Records and Lists. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett. ISBN 1-86958-879-7. 
• Swanton, E.W. (1986). Barclays World of Cricket. Willow Books. ISBN 0002181932. 

Preceded by Walter Hadlee

New Zealand national cricket captain 1951/2

Succeeded by Merv Wallace