Alan McLean (26 September 1911 – 12 August 2003) was a

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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

in the 1947-48 season. A solid middle-order batsman and an accurate medium-pace bowler who was able to move the ball sharply off the wicket, McLean played for the Institute club in Wellington. He topped the Wellington Cricket Association averages in the 1936-37 season with 43 wickets at 11.23. In a match for a Wellington second team against

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

in 1937-38 he took 5 for 9 off 10 overs in Hawke’s Bay’s first innings, then made the top score of the match with 51. The

Second World War 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 ...

intervened before McLean could play

. A carpenter by trade, he served as a

sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer (military), pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefie ...

with New Zealand forces in North Africa. In 1947-48, at the age of 36, McLean played his only season of first-class cricket, a full season of four matches for Wellington. He made 41 and took 2 for 50 and 2 for 37 against

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 ...

; made 15 and 38 not out and took 4 for 25 and 2 for 47 against

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

; and made 86 and took 2 for 51 and 0 for 50 against

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. With 180 runs at an average of 60.00 and 12 wickets at 21.83, he was sixth in the national

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 ...

batting averages and first in the bowling among those bowlers with 10 wickets or more. At the end of the season he played for Wellington in a first-class match against the touring Fijian team, making 21 and 73 and taking 0 for 12 and 2 for 30.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Alan 1911 births 2003 deaths New Zealand cricketers Wellington cricketers People from Lyttelton, New Zealand New Zealand military personnel of World War II Cricketers from Canterbury, New Zealand