Eric Charlton Petrie (22 May 1927 – 14 August 2004) 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 14

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

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 ...

from 1955 to 1966 as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

Domestic career

Petrie began playing for Waikato 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 ...

in 1945–46. He made his first-class debut for

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 ...

in 1950–51. He established himself in the Auckland team in 1952–53, and captained Auckland in 1954–55. When the

Northern Districts men's cricket team The Northern Districts men's cricket team are one of six New Zealand first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. They are based in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand (excluding Auckland). They compete in the ...

made its first-class debut in 1956-57 he was appointed captain, a position he held until the end of the 1960–61 season. He scored two first-class centuries, both against

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

: the first in 1953-54 when he opened the Auckland second innings and made 151, the other in 1959-60 when he made 136 at number five for Northern Districts. He retired from first-class cricket after the 1966–67 season.

International career

Petrie was selected to tour

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

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 ...

with the New Zealanders in 1955–56. He played in four of the eight Tests on the tour. He toured England in 1958, playing all five Tests. He was also selected for the Gentlemen in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

match at the end of the season. ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' noted that he was "a neat and reliable wicket-keeper, who ... was immensely popular because of his pleasant personality". He played both Tests when England toured in 1958-59, and after a gap he returned for all three Tests when England toured in 1965-66. His top score in Tests was 55 against England in the First Test in 1965–66.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrie, Eric 1927 births 2004 deaths Auckland cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Northern Districts cricketers Gentlemen cricketers People from Ngāruawāhia North Island cricketers Wicket-keepers Cricketers from Waikato