Grenville David "Gren" Alabaster (born 10 December 1933) is a former New Zealand first-class cricketer who played for

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 ...

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. ...

and

Northern Districts 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 ...

. A winner of the New Zealand Cricket Almanack Player of the Year Award in 1972, Alabaster was a right-arm off-break bowler. He toured with New Zealand on occasions, including the tour to Australia in 1973–74, but never in a

Test match 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) ...

. His brother

Jack Alabaster John Chaloner Alabaster (born 11 July 1930) is a former cricketer who played 21 Test matches for New Zealand between 1955 and 1972. A leg-spin bowler, he was the only New Zealander to play in each of the country's first four Test victories. In ...

played 21 Tests.

Life and career

Gren Alabaster took 8/30 for Northern Districts against New Zealand Under-23s in March 1963. This established a new record for the side in first-class cricket, beating

Don Clarke Donald Barry Clarke (10 November 1933 – 29 December 2002) was a New Zealand rugby union player who played 89 times (31 of these were test matches) as a New Zealand international from 1956 until 1964. He was best known for his phenomena ...

's 8/37 of just two months previously. Alabaster's mark stood for less than a year, until

Maurice Langdon Maurice Charles Langdon (12 October 1934 – 27 March 2022) was a New Zealand cricketer who played 25 first-class matches for Northern Districts from 1957 to 1965. Langdon was a middle-order batsman and medium-pace bowler. He held the record ...

claimed 8/21 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 ...

in January 1964. In a first-class career stretching from 1955–56 to 1975–76 he took 275 wickets at 23.24, and made 3200 runs at 23.88, with three centuries including a highest score of 108 for Otago against Central Districts at Wanganui in 1964–65. His most successful season with the ball was 1974–75; despite turning 41 during the season he took 34 wickets at 20.11 and helped Otago to victory in 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 ...

. He also played 31 matches for

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

and

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...

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 ...

between 1961 and 1979. He captained Southland during their reign as title-holders between 1973 and 1977. When a Hawke Cup "team of the century" was selected to mark the centenary of the competition in 2011, he was named as the captain. He became a New Zealand selector in the late 1980s and managed the New Zealand team on tours of Sri Lanka and Australia in 1987, and again in the 1990s. Alabaster made his career in teaching, finishing as Principal of Waiau College in

Tuatapere Tuatapere is a small rural town in Southland, New Zealand. It is the self declared "Sausage Capital of New Zealand". Tuatapere is located eight kilometres from the southern coast. The Waiau River flows through the town before reaching Te Waewa ...

.
School of Physical Education, University of Otago, Alumni newsletter 2009 He lives in retirement in Oxford, New Zealand, Oxford in North Canterbury.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabaster, Gren 1933 births Living people Otago cricketers New Zealand cricketers New Zealand cricket administrators Northern Districts cricketers Canterbury cricketers South Island cricketers New Zealand schoolteachers Cricketers from Invercargill