Neale Robert Thompson (2 February 1937 – 30 August 2024) 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 and badminton player. He played 18 first-class matches 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 ...

between the 1956–57 and 1962–63 seasons, and represented New Zealand at badminton.

Life and career

Thompson was born at Invercargill and educated there at Southland Boys' High School. A left-handed batsman, he played in the New Zealand Colts team in the mid-1950s. At the time, even before he had played first-class cricket, he was considered a future Test player.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 129. Cardiff: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 5 June 2023.) However, his eventual first-class career was moderate. He had his best season in 1958–59, when he scored 254 runs at an average of 42.33, and converted the only first-class fifty of his career into a

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

: 100 not out in Otago's victory over Northern Districts. He played Hawke Cup cricket for Southland from 1954 to 1979; he opened the batting during Southland's long tenure as title-holders between March 1973 and February 1977. Thompson also represented New Zealand at badminton. He won four New Zealand doubles titles and represented the country in five international series from 1958 to 1960. Thompson met his wife, Fay, when they both represented Southland in badminton. They were married for 63 years until Neale's death in August 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Neale 1937 births 2024 deaths New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers Cricketers from Invercargill People educated at Southland Boys' High School South Island cricketers New Zealand male badminton players