Alexander McKenzie Moir (17 July 1919 – 17 June 2000) was a New Zealand
cricketer
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
. He played 17
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
for
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in the 1950s as a leg-spinner and lower-order batsman.
Early life
Moir served in Europe with New Zealand forces in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
as a driver. At the end of the war he played a few matches for the
New Zealand Services cricket team in England.
Cricket career
In his early career, Moir was mostly a batsman. When his Dunedin club, Grange, won the Otago Cricket Association competition in 1948–49, he was their leading batsman, with 536 runs at an average of 48.72, and did little bowling. The ''
Otago Daily Times
The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...
'' said he was "an attractive batsman and if he would temper his aggression with more discretion he would be unquestionably a candidate for a place in the Otago
Plunket Shield
New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield.
History
The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...
team." But after watching the Australian leg-spinner
Bill O'Reilly bowl, Moir decided to try his hand at leg-spin, and it was primarily as a spinner that he won his spot in the Otago team in 1949–50, when he made his
first-class debut at the age of 30.
['']Wisden
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' 2001, p. 1596.
Like O'Reilly, Moir bowled quicker than most leg-spinners.
[ He was immediately successful for Otago, and was selected in the Test team to play the touring English team at the end of the 1950–51 season. On his Test debut in Christchurch he took 6 for 155 in the first innings of the high-scoring drawn match. His figures remained the best by a New Zealander on Test debut until ]Colin de Grandhomme
Colin de Grandhomme (born 22 July 1986) is a former Zimbabwean-born New Zealand international cricketer.
Early, domestic and T20 career
Born in Harare, de Grandhomme, who attended St. George's College, Harare, began his career by playing for ...
took 6 for 41 in November 2016. The next time England toured, in 1954–55, Moir took 5 for 62 in England's first innings in the Second Test, only for England then to dismiss New Zealand for the lowest Test score ever, 26.
Moir was not selected for New Zealand's tour of South Africa in 1953–54, the selectors preferring younger, more athletic players. While the Test team were away, in 1953-54 Moir took match figures of 15 for 203 for Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
against Central Districts
The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...
at Pukekura Park
Pukekura Park is a Garden of National Significance, covering 52 hectares near the heart of New Plymouth, Taranaki in New Zealand.
History
The gala opening of New Plymouth's 15 hectare Recreation Ground was held on 29 May 1876. During the day th ...
, New Plymouth
New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...
. He toured India and Pakistan in 1955–56, and England in 1958, but with little success on either tour.[
After a successful Plunket Shield season in 1958–59, in which he took his best innings figures of 8 for 37 (and 4 for 84 in the second innings after scoring 62) against ]Northern Districts
The Northern Districts men's cricket team are one of six New Zealand first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket.
They are based in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand (excluding Auckland). They compete in the ...
, Moir was selected in the trial match for South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
against North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
. He scored 52 not out
In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress.
Occurrence
At least one batter is not out at t ...
and 70 and took two wickets in South Island's victory, and was selected in the Test team for the two-match series. He took five wickets in the two Tests, but they were his last Tests. He had three more successful seasons with Otago before retiring with a record number of wickets in the Plunket Shield.[
He is one of only two bowlers to have bowled consecutive overs in a Test innings; this occurred on 28 March 1951, the fourth day of the Wellington Test against England, on either side of the tea interval. The other recorded instance of this violation of the ]Laws of cricket
The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...
in a Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
was in 1921, the bowler being Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong (22 May 1879 – 13 July 1947) was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winn ...
.[Martin-Jenkins, C. (1983) ''The Cricketer Book of Cricket Disasters and Bizarre Records'', Century Publishing: London. .]
Personal life
Moir worked as a school teacher.[ R. T. Brittenden, ''New Zealand Cricketers'', A. H. & A. W. Reed, Wellington, 1961, pp. 117–19.]
See also
* List of New Zealand cricketers who have taken five-wicket hauls on Test debut
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moir, Alex
1919 births
2000 deaths
Cricketers from Dunedin
New Zealand Test cricketers
Otago cricketers
Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut
South Island cricketers
New Zealand military personnel of World War II