Hugh Conn McCall, usually known by his middle name (29 March 1940 – 7 June 2002) was an Irish
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 ...
. A right-handed
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...
and
left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of Finger spin, left-arm finger spin bowling (cricket), bowling in the sport of cricket.
Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bow ...
bowler,
[Cricket Archive profile](_blank)
/ref> he played 15 times for the Ireland cricket team
The Ireland cricket team represents all of Ireland in international cricket. The Irish Cricket Union, operating under the brand Cricket Ireland is the sport's governing body in Ireland, and organises the international team.
Ireland participa ...
in the 1960s[CricketEurope Stats Zone profile](_blank)
including seven first-class matches
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 ...
.[First-class matches played by Conn McCall](_blank)
at CricketArchive His son Mark
Mark may refer to:
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* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
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* Fi ...
played 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 ...
for Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.[Cricinfo profile](_blank)
/ref>
Cricket career
Conn McCall was scheduled to make his debut for Ireland in their annual match against Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
in 1964, but the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled. He finally made his debut a few days later, playing against the MCC in a first-class match. His first match in 1965 was also against the MCC, at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...
, and he also played against 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 ...
, Scotland and Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
that year.
He played three times in 1966, against Scotland, the MCC and Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
, and four times in 1967, including a match against India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. His final year in the Irish side was in 1968, playing twice against 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 ...
before finishing his career as it should have started, playing against Scotland in a first-class match. He later served as an Irish selector in the early 1980s and as president of the Irish Cricket Union
Cricket Ireland, officially the Irish Cricket Union, is the national Sport governing body, governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland (both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), and oversees the national Ireland cricket team, m ...
in 1992.
Statistics
In all matches for Ireland, he scored 541 runs at an average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
of 20.04, with a top score of 81 against the MCC in his debut match, one of three half-century
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
for Ireland. He bowled just one delivery, conceding the winning single against New Zealand in 1965.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCall, Conn
1940 births
2002 deaths
Irish cricketers
People from Holywood, County Down
Cricketers from Northern Ireland