Hugh Lusk (cricketer) facts for kids

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Hugh Lusk

Hugh Lusk, 1898-99
Personal information
Full name	Hugh Butler Lusk
Born	(1866-01-12)12 January 1866 Mangonui, Northland, New Zealand
Died	26 February 1944(1944-02-26) (aged 78) Napier, New Zealand
Batting	Right-handed
Relations	Hugh Lusk (father) Harold Lusk (brother) William Lee Rees (father-in-law)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1889-90	Auckland
1891-92 to 1908-09	Hawke's Bay
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 38 Runs scored 1688 Batting average 25.19 100s/50s 3/8 Top score 120 Balls bowled 2519 Wickets 51 Bowling average 21.80 5 wickets in innings 2 10 wickets in match 1 Best bowling 7/53 Catches/stumpings 14/0
Source: Cricket Archive, 3 October 2014

Hugh Butler Lusk (born January 12, 1866 – died February 26, 1944) was a famous New Zealander. He was known for two main things. He was a skilled lawyer and a talented cricketer.

Hugh Lusk's Life and Career

Hugh Lusk went to Auckland Grammar School. After school, he decided to study law. In 1890, he became a qualified lawyer. This meant he could work in courts.

In March 1891, Hugh married Bessie Rees in Auckland. Bessie's father was William Lee Rees. He was also a well-known person. Bessie was also the niece of W. G. Grace. He was a very famous English cricketer.

In 1902, Hugh became the Crown Solicitor for Hawke's Bay. This is a special lawyer who works for the government. He kept this important job until he passed away. He worked as a lawyer in Napier for over 50 years. He was also part of the New Zealand Law Society for 30 years.

Hugh Lusk's Cricket Journey

Hugh Lusk started playing first-class cricket in 1889-90. He played for the Auckland team. He played five matches as a middle-order batsman. He was also an opening bowler. He didn't score many runs at first. But he took eight wickets in two games. These games were against the New South Wales team. In one match, he took 5 wickets for only 35 runs.

Playing for Hawke's Bay

Later, Hugh moved to Napier. He started playing for the Hawke's Bay team in 1891-92. In his very first game, he scored 62 runs. This helped his team win against Taranaki.

In 1893-94, he was chosen to play for the North Island team. This was against New South Wales. He scored 39 runs and 21 runs in his two turns at bat. He was the second-highest scorer for his team.

Hugh became the captain of the Hawke's Bay team. In 1895-96, he played a big role in a match. This was against the Wellington team. He scored 14 and 41 runs. He also took 4 wickets for 18 runs and 7 wickets for 53 runs.

Representing New Zealand

Hugh Lusk played for the New Zealand national team in 1896-97. He scored 59 and 23 runs. New Zealand won this game against the Queensland team. He was the only player from Hawke's Bay to play for New Zealand. This was during the time Hawke's Bay was a first-class team (1884 to 1921). He scored 250 runs that season. This was the most runs by any New Zealand batsman.

The next season, Hugh scored his first century (100 runs). He scored 119 runs for Hawke's Bay. This was against the Canterbury team. It was the highest score of the season. Again, he scored the most runs in the country. He made 280 runs that season.

In 1898-99, he went on a short tour to Australia with the New Zealand team. He didn't have much success in those games. In 1900-01, he scored his second century. He made 120 runs. He led Hawke's Bay to a big win against Auckland. He also played for New Zealand against Lord Hawke's XI in 1902-03. His third and final century was in 1907-08. This was against Wellington.

Hugh Lusk played his last first-class match in 1909. He was still the captain of Hawke's Bay. He was almost 43 years old. He scored 1395 runs in 28 first-class matches for Hawke's Bay. He also served as the President of the New Zealand Cricket Council in the 1930s.

See also

• List of Auckland representative cricketers