Douglas William Bowden (19 July 1927 – 20 January 2021) was a New Zealand

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

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

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 ...

from 1950 to 1957.

Career

Bowden was born in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

and attended

Palmerston North Boys' High School Palmerston North Boys' High School is a traditional boys school located in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Location Palmerston North Boys' High School has a campus located on Featherston Street between Rangitikei and North Streets in the central ...

, where he captained the first XI in 1945. He opened the batting with

Ted Meuli Edgar Milton Meuli (20 February 1926 – 15 April 2007) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in one Test in 1953. He played 42 matches of first-class cricket in New Zealand between 1945 and 1959. Cricket career Ted Meuli was born in Hāwera a ...

in Central Districts' inaugural first-class match, at the start of the 1950–51 season, but was not successful. He next played in 1953–54, when Central Districts won the

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 ...

for the first time, then played most of Central Districts' matches until 1957–58. His only fifty came in 1953–54, when he made 60, adding 103 for the second wicket with John Guy, in the victory over

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. ...

. He also played in the

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat t ...

for Manawatu from 1945–46 to 1957–58, and for

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

in 1963–64. He set a Manawatu record in a Hawke Cup elimination match in 1953–54 when he scored 234 in 348 minutes to help Manawatu overtake Hawke's Bay's first innings total of 492. He worked in insurance for North Island Motor Union. He died in

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wai ...

, where he was living with his wife Christina, on 20 January 2021, aged 93. At the time, he was Central Districts' oldest surviving player.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowden, Doug 1927 births 2021 deaths Cricketers from Palmerston North People educated at Palmerston North Boys' High School New Zealand cricketers Central Districts cricketers