Leonard Arthur Butterfield (29 August 1913 – 5 July 1999) 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 in one

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in 1946. He later served as New Zealand's chief

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

stipendiary steward.

Cricket career

Butterfield made his first-class debut 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 1934–35, and played three more matches in 1935-36 batting at various positions in the order from opening to number eight, without much success. He reappeared in 1943-44 as an all-rounder who batted in the middle order and opened the bowling, and took 5 for 24 to help Canterbury beat Auckland, followed by 5 for 47 in a victory over Wellington in the next match. He was selected to play for a New Zealand XI in a first-class match against a New Zealand Services XI shortly afterwards, and hit 40 batting at number nine, his highest score to date. He hit the highest score of his career, 82, against Otago in 1944–45, and was selected for

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

against

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at Auckland in the last match of the season. In a low-scoring match he scored 16 and 58 batting at number seven, and opening the bowling he took 3 for 47 in the first innings then, with his team trailing by 67, he took the first five wickets to fall in North Island's second innings, taking 5 for 9 (figures of 12–5–9–5) before having to leave the ground injured. North Island recovered somewhat after his departure, leaving South Island to get 262 for victory, but despite Butterfield's 58 and

Ian Cromb Ian Burns Cromb (25 June 1905 – 6 March 1984) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in five Tests from 1931 to 1932, including all three Tests of the 1931 tour of England. Cromb was born in Christchurch and attended Christchurch Boys' High ...

's 62, they fell 34 runs short. In 1945-46 he made 76 against Auckland and 69 against Otago, when he also had figures of 28.5–21–17–4 in the first innings. He was unsuccessful with bat or ball when Canterbury were defeated by the Australians in March, but he was selected for the Test that followed later that month in Wellington. He bowled economically without taking a wicket, and, batting at number seven, after

Gordon Rowe Charles Gordon Rowe (30 June 1915 – 9 June 1995) was a New Zealand cricketer who played in one Test match in 1946 against Australia. He also represented New Zealand at hockey. Life and career Early life and war service Rowe was born at Glasg ...

at six (who also made a pair in his only Test), faced 10 balls in the match without scoring, falling

Leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an appeal by the fielding side, the umpire may rule a batter out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was instead in ...

to Bill O'Reilly each time. It was his last first-class match.

After cricket

Butterfield's father had been a horse trainer at

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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 / ...

. After working as a plumber for some years, Butterfield began work with the Trotting Conference in 1946. From 1957 he served for 21 years as New Zealand harness racing's Chief Stipendiary Steward, retiring in 1978. While he was Chief Stipendiary Steward he made a study of drugs and how they affect horses.

References

External links

Len Butterfield at Cricinfo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfield, Len 1913 births 1999 deaths New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Canterbury cricketers Cricketers from Christchurch South Island cricketers People in harness racing

Cricket career

After cricket

See also

References

External links