George Thomas McConnell (3 January 1938 – 9 April 2019) was a

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 ...

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

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 ...

from 1961 to 1971. George McConnell's family moved from Australia to New Zealand when he was a boy, and he attended

Hutt Valley High School Hutt Valley High School is a State school, state coeducational secondary school located in central Lower Hutt, New Zealand. A total of students from Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18) attend the school as of making the school one of the largest i ...

. A tall off-spin bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, McConnell had his best first-class season in 1961–62, when he took 20 wickets at an average of 13.30. In Wellington's first match that season he took 3 for 13 and 6 for 41 (his best bowling figures) and made 38 (his highest score) in an innings victory over

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. McConnell also played

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 ...

cricket for

Hutt Valley The Hutt Valley (or 'The Hutt') is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Like the river that flows through it, it takes its name from Sir William Hutt, a director of the New Zeala ...

from 1960 to 1975. In 1967–68 he played a leading part in Hutt Valley's title-winning victory over

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, when he took 6 for 21 and 6 for 57 and, batting at number eight, made 60, the only fifty on either side in the match.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, George 1938 births 2019 deaths People educated at Hutt Valley High School New Zealand cricketers Wellington cricketers People from Innisfail, Queensland