Eiulf Peter "Buster" Nupen (1 January 1902 – 29 January 1977) was a

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 in 17 Test matches for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

between 1921–22 and 1935–36. He was born in Norway, lost an eye in a childhood accident, and was shot through both knees during the

Rand Rebellion The Rand Rebellion ( af, Rand-rebellie; also known as the 1922 strike) was an armed uprising of white miners in the Witwatersrand region of South Africa, in March 1922. Jimmy Green, a prominent politician in the Labour Party, was one of ...

when he was 20. A deadly force for

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

against lesser batsmen on matting wickets during the late 1920s – by which time his bowling on these wickets had been developed into a fine art – in 1930–31 Nupen was, owing to the absence of South Africa's former captain Nummy Deane due to poor form, chosen to captain the Test team against England. He did so with considerable skill and accomplished the best bowling of his Test career. He took 5 for 63 and 6 for 87 in the First Test to give South Africa victory by 28 runs, and 3 for 148 and 6 for 46 in the drawn Fourth Test. However, Nupen was thought so badly of on turf pitches that he was left out of the Third and Fifth Tests, the first two played on turf in South Africa. He achieved his best-ever domestic figures the following year with 43 wickets for 434 runs (including 9 for 48 and 7 for 88 in a match against Griqualand West).Transvaal v Griqualand West, 1931–32
CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 November 2020. In 28

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

matches for Transvaal he took 190 wickets at an average of 12.92, nine times taking 10 or more wickets in a match.Obituary, ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner ...

'', April 1977, p. 69. He was educated at

King Edward VII School (Johannesburg) King Edward VII School (KES) is a public English medium high school for boys situated within the city of Johannesburg in South Africa's Gauteng Province, one of the historically significant Milner Schools. The school is a public school, with ...

and practised as an attorney in Johannesburg for 45 years.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nupen, Buster 1902 births 1977 deaths South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Norwegian cricketers Gauteng cricketers Norwegian emigrants to South Africa Alumni of King Edward VII School (Johannesburg) South Africa Test cricket captains