Alan Burgess (cricketer) facts for kids
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name |
Alan Thomas Burgess
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 May 1920 Christchurch, New Zealand |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 6 January 2021 (aged 100) Rangiora, New Zealand |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Thomas Burgess (father) Gordon Burgess (cousin) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1940/41–1951/52 | Canterbury | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Source: CricketArchive, 5 January 2020
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alan Thomas Burgess (born May 1, 1920 – died January 6, 2021) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played first-class cricket for the Canterbury team from 1940 to 1952. First-class cricket is the highest level of the sport played over several days.
Alan Burgess was also a tank driver during World War II. For a short time, from June 2020 to January 2021, he was known as the oldest living first-class cricketer in the world.
Contents
Alan Burgess: Cricketer and War Hero
Early Life and Family
Alan Burgess was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. His father, Thomas, was a cricket umpire. An umpire is like a referee in cricket. Thomas even officiated a big Test match in Christchurch in 1933.
Alan also had a famous cousin, Gordon Burgess, who was a cricketer and helped manage the sport. Gordon's son, Mark, later became the captain of New Zealand's Test cricket team in the 1970s.
Alan went to Phillipstown School in Christchurch. After school, he became an apprentice upholsterer. This means he learned how to make and fix furniture coverings.
Cricket Beginnings
Alan Burgess played his first first-class cricket match in December 1940. He started as a bowler, which means he threw the ball to try and get batsmen out. In that game, he took 6 wickets for 52 runs and then 3 wickets for 51 runs against the Otago team. He used a special type of bowling called left-arm spin.
Later in that same season, he showed he could bat well too. He scored 61 runs and was not out against the Wellington team. This means he stayed batting until the end of the innings.
Serving in World War II
When Alan turned 21 in 1941, he joined the New Zealand Army. Soon after, he was sent overseas to serve his country. He was a tank driver in the 20th Armoured Regiment. He fought in important battles in Egypt and Italy. One of the most famous battles he was part of was the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.
After the war ended in Europe, Alan got to play cricket again. He toured England with the New Zealand Services team in 1945. He played as a batsman on this tour. In his only first-class match during this tour, he scored 61 runs and was not out again.
Later Cricket and Life
After the war, Alan continued to play for Canterbury. Between 1945 and 1952, he played nine more matches. His highest score during this time was 42 runs against the Auckland team in 1950–51. In that game, he and another player, Ray Emery, scored 105 runs together for the first wicket.
Outside of cricket, Alan Burgess ran his own upholstery business in Christchurch. He was married twice and had three children. He lived in Rangiora, a town in New Zealand.
A Century of Life
Alan Burgess became New Zealand's oldest living first-class cricketer in August 2017. This happened after another famous cricketer, Tom Pritchard, passed away.
In May 2020, Alan celebrated his 100th birthday! Just a month later, on June 13, 2020, he became the oldest living first-class cricketer in the world. This was after Vasant Raiji from India passed away.
Alan Burgess died in Rangiora on January 6, 2021, at the age of 100. After his death, Raghunath Chandorkar from India became the oldest living first-class cricketer. In New Zealand, Iain Gallaway became the oldest living first-class cricketer.
See also
In Spanish: Alan Burgess para niños
- Lists of oldest cricketers
- List of centenarians (sportspeople)
