Robert Alan Vance (29 December 1924 – 7 November 1994) was a New Zealand

cricket 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 ...

er who played

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for

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from 1948 to 1962. He was chairman of the

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from 1978 to 1987.

Playing career

Vance was a member of the Wellington Colts XI that was undefeated in the 1946–47 season. He made his first-class debut for Wellington in 1947–48, and established his position as an opening batsman in 1950–51, when he scored 75 and 29 in a victory over

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 ...

. He remained in the team, sometimes as an opener, sometimes batting at number three or four. He made his only century, 109 against Central Districts, on Christmas Day 1956. He captained Wellington in 1953–54 and 1961–62 when John Reid, Wellington's captain from 1951–52 to 1964–65, was touring South Africa with the

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team. Under Vance's captaincy in 1961–62 Wellington won their first four matches inside two days and went on to win the Plunket Shield. After the season Vance retired from first-class cricket.

Administrative career

Vance was chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Council from 1978 to 1987, and managed the

New Zealand cricket team in England in 1986 The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1986 season to play a three-match Test series against England. New Zealand won the series 1–0 with two matches drawn. One Day Internationals (ODIs) New Zealand won the Texaco Trophy on faster ...

. The R. A. Vance Stand at Basin Reserve in Wellington, built in 1979–80, is named in his honour. In the

1983 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1983 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, Vance was appointed a

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, for services to cricket and the community. His son

Bert Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

played

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

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 1980s.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vance, Bob 1924 births 1994 deaths New Zealand cricketers Wellington cricketers New Zealand cricket administrators New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Cricketers from Wellington City