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William Frith (New Zealand cricketer)

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William Frith
Personal information
Full name
William Frith
Born(1856-06-26)26 June 1856
Edmonton, Middlesex, England
Died19 November 1949(1949-11-19) (aged 93)
Ashburton, Canterbury, New Zealand
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
RoleBowler
RelationsCharlie Frith (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1877/78–1880/81Canterbury
1881/1882Otago
1882/83–1888/89Canterbury
1889/90–1893/94Wellington
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 15
Runs scored 243
Batting average 12.15
100s/50s 0/1
Top score 51
Balls bowled 2,501
Wickets 79
Bowling average 10.18
5 wickets in innings 6
10 wickets in match 3
Best bowling 8/18
Catches/stumpings 17/–
Source: Cricinfo, 13 December 2022

William Frith (26 June 1856 – 19 November 1949) was an English-born New Zealand first-class cricketer who played fifteen matches for Canterbury, Otago and Wellington between 1877 and 1894.

Frith was principally an accurate left-arm bowler, but he was also a useful middle-order batsman "with a style of his own", and one of the most brilliant fieldsmen in New Zealand.[1] In 1880–81 he took 8 for 18 for Canterbury against Otago.[2] In 1889–90 he took four wickets in each innings and made 46 in Wellington's victory over Auckland when nobody else in the match exceeded 30.[3] He bowled successfully against touring Test teams, taking three wickets cheaply for Canterbury against the 1878 Australians and five wickets for Otago against the 1882 English team.[4]

Frith was born in England in 1856 and was employed as a printer and, for a time, as a professional cricketer. He married Sophia Skeltan in 1878 and the marriage produced seven children, but she divorced him in 1904 on the grounds of "habitual drunkenness and cruelty [and] failure to maintain [her] and her family".[5] His brother, Charlie Frith, also played cricket for Otago and Canterbury.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Canterbury v. Wellington". New Zealand Mail: 12. 27 March 1891.
  2. ^ "Canterbury v Otago 1890-91". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Wellington v Auckland 1889-90". CricketArchive. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Death of Mr. W. Frith: Famous Canterbury Cricketer". Press: 6. 21 November 1949.
  5. ^ "Divorce Court". Evening Post: 6. 12 May 1904.
  6. ^ McCarron A (2010) New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010, p. 53. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. ISBN 978 1 905138 98 2
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