Bevan Ernest Congdon (11 February 1938 – 10 February 2018) was a

New Zealand cricket New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

who played 61 Test matches and 11 One Day Internationals from 1965 to 1978, which included a spell as captain.

Captaincy

He was captain of the New Zealand Test and ODI team from 1972 to 1974, and was the first New Zealand captain to record a victory over Australia. Congdon was principally a batsman but also became a useful medium-pace bowler midway through his career.

Record breaking

His finest moments in Tests were in England in 1973 when he scored 176 at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also ...

and 175 at Lord's in successive Tests, and during the determined foray by the Kiwis to the West Indies in 1972, when he took over the captaincy from

Graham Dowling Graham Thorne Dowling (born 4 March 1937) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played 39 Test matches and captained New Zealand in 19 of them. He led New Zealand to its first victory in a Test series, against Pakistan in November 1969. He wa ...

. In the Trent Bridge match, New Zealand chased 479 in the final innings, falling short by only 38 runs. At the time, this was a Test record for a highest score in the fourth innings to lose a match. In 1975, Congdon became the first New Zealand batsman to score an ODI century at

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin") is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only crick ...

. The second one was scored by Kane Williamson, 43 years later, on 6 January 2018 vs. Pakistan. The innings at Lord's contributed to New Zealand making 551, their highest score in Tests at the time. Asked afterwards how he prepared for Test cricket in his remote, intemperate South Island hometown, he replied that net pitches in

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding ...

prepared one for anything.

Honours

In the

1975 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1975 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1975 to celeb ...

, Congdon was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to cricket.

References

External links

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"Vale Bevan Congdon"
from the New Zealand Cricket Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Congdon, Bevan 1938 births 2018 deaths Canterbury cricketers Central Districts cricketers Cricketers from Motueka International Cavaliers cricketers New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand One Day International captains New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand Test cricket captains New Zealand Test cricketers Otago cricketers South Island cricketers Wellington cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year