George Charles Lee Wilson (1 May 1887 – 14 December 1917) 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 ...

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

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

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. ...

in the 1913-14 season and died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Club career

A short, slightly-built right-arm leg-break and googly bowler who usually opened the bowling, and a useful lower-order batsman, George Wilson played for the Sydenham club in the

Cricket Association. When they won the championship for the first time in 1912-13, he took 57 wickets at an average of 11.96. In 1913-14, when they retained the title, he took 53 wickets at 9.62. He worked in Christchurch as a

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

The 1913–14 season

Wilson made his first-class debut on Christmas Day 1913 for

against

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 ...

at Lancaster Park in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. Canterbury were the holders of the Plunket Shield, and in the system as it operated at the time, had to defend the title against challengers. Wilson took two wickets in the match, which Canterbury won by six wickets. In the next match, 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 ...

, Wilson took 4 for 76 and 7 for 80 in another Canterbury victory, this time by 243 runs. The third match was against

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 ...

. Batting at number ten in the first innings and nine in the second, Wilson made 34 not out and 64 not out, and took 5 for 73 and 6 for 117. For the final Plunket Shield match of the season Canterbury travelled south to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

to play Otago again. Before the match they played a two-day match in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

against Southland, in which Wilson took 8 for 56 and 5 for 41. Against Otago he took 5 for 95 and 2 for 88 in an innings victory for Canterbury. Wilson was the outstanding bowler in the Plunket Shield season, with 31 wickets at an average of 18.77. He played two matches against the Australian team that toured New Zealand at the end of the season, but without taking a wicket in either match. The first match was between Canterbury and the Australians, when Victor Trumper and Arthur Sims added 433 runs for the eighth wicket in 190 minutes, a world record for the eighth wicket that still stands. Wilson did not open the bowling this time, and took no wicket for 95 off 19 overs. Trumper hit one of his deliveries "into the frog pond on the back ground, the biggest hit of the match". The Australians then played two matches against

. Wilson played in the first, but bowled only eight overs for 39 runs, and Australia won by seven wickets. He was one of seven players who lost their place in the team for the second match, which Australia won by an innings.

Death in World War I

Wilson served as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

with the Canterbury Infantry Regiment in

. He was killed in action at the

Ypres salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...

on 14 December 1917.

References

External links

*
George Wilson at CricketArchive

Private Wilson of Christchurch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, George 1887 births 1917 deaths New Zealand cricketers Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers Canterbury cricketers New Zealand military personnel killed in World War I New Zealand Military Forces personnel of World War I New Zealand Army soldiers Military personnel from Christchurch