Alfred George Eckhold (28 December 1885 – 24 October 1931) was an Australian-New Zealand sportsman who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

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 ...

and represented the

All-Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

Career

Rugby career

Eckhold, a 66 kg five-eighth, was originally from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and came to New Zealand when he was a teenager. He returned to his country of birth in 1907, with the

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 ...

national rugby union team. Eckhold made three appearances on the tour, against NSW in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and twice against Queensland in Brisbane. When back home in New Zealand, Eckhold played with the Southern Rugby Club in Dunedin and for Otago. In the 1920s he was a prominent rugby referee around the country and officiated in some

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

matches. His son in law, Harry Simon, was also an All Black.

Cricket career

He had made his first-class cricket debut in 1907, when he lined up against the touring

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

which was filled with experienced international cricketers. He accounted for himself well though, making 41 in his maiden innings, the second top score for Otago. He seemed to perform well against good opponents as he was again one of his team's best batsmen when they took on the Australian cricket team at Carisbrook in 1910, with innings of 27 and 26. Four of his first-class matches were in the

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 ...

Eckhold made his highest score of 60 not out, against

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

at Basin Reserve in 1915, after making a duck in the first innings. His effort, coupled with an unbeaten century from captain and England Test cricketer Jack Crawford, allowed

to hold on for a draw and it also set an eight wicket record for the team.

Personal life

Eckhold was born at

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in 1885. He worked as a maltster. He died, aged 45, at

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

in 1931.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 47. Cardiff:

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Statis ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckhold, Alfred 1885 births 1931 deaths Australian emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand rugby union referees New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers