Matt Beresford Poore (1 June 1930 – 11 June 2020) 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

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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 ...

in the 1950s. He was born 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 / ...

Domestic career

A right-handed middle order batsman and handy off-spin bowler, Poore played 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. ...

from 1950–51 to 1957–58, then returned for three matches in 1961–62. His highest score was 142 opening the batting against

Central Districts The Central Stags, formerly known as Central Districts, are a first-class cricket team based in central New Zealand. They are the men's representative side of the Central Districts Cricket Association. They compete in the Plunket Shield firs ...

in 1954–55, a match in which the next highest score was 55. It was the highest score 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 ...

in the 1954–55 season. His other century was 103, opening the batting 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 1956-57 after taking 4 for 72 (figures of 47.2–22–72–4) in the first innings. His best bowling was 5 for 27 against

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in the final match of the 1955-56 tour. Commenting on Poore's innings of 70 in his second match for Canterbury in 1950–51,

Dick Brittenden Richard Trevor Brittenden (22 August 1919 – 10 June 2002) was from the 1950s to the 1980s New Zealand's most prominent cricket writer. Early life, family and career Brittenden was born at Rakaia on 22 August 1919, and was educated at Chris ...

wrote: "His graceful driving and easy footwork marked him out as a future New Zealand batsman, and he became one, only to disappoint his admirers regularly, by looking the best batsman in the country and getting out for small scores inexplicably and far too frequently."

International career

Poore made his Test debut in March 1953 against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He made 170 runs in the five-Test series in

in 1953–54. He also toured

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 ...

in 1955–56, playing in seven of the eight Tests, but scoring only 131 runs at 11.90 and taking 4 wickets at 64.25. His best Test performances came in his first Test, when he made 45 and 8 not out and took 2 for 28 and 2 for 43. Although he failed to make a Test half-century in his 14 matches – and in fact holds the record for the longest Test career without a half-century or a three-wicket haul – he made two hundreds in

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 ...

. Like most of the New Zealand team, Poore suffered from illness during the tour of Pakistan and India. During one game, affected by his gastric medication, he went to sleep standing up in the field. In

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

he was bitten by a stray dog that he was removing from the field, and had to have antibiotic injections in his stomach for the next two weeks, most of them administered by his teammates in the absence of medical assistance.

Personal life

Poore and his wife Rae were married for 63 years. He died at their retirement village in North Shore,

, on 11 June 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poore, Matt 1930 births 2020 deaths New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers Canterbury cricketers Cricketers from Christchurch South Island cricketers