Arnold Peter Arnold (16 October 1926 – 6 September 2021) was a

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 ...

from 1951 to 1960. He was a right-handed batsman.

Career

Peter Arnold learned to play cricket at

St Bede's College, Christchurch St. Bede's College is a state integrated Roman Catholic day and boarding school in Christchurch, New Zealand, for boys aged 12 (Year 9) to 18 (Year 13). St. Bede's is the oldest Roman Catholic Boys' College in New Zealand's South Island. It is ...

, New Zealand. He went to England in 1950 seeking a career as a professional cricketer. He played for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

from 1951 to 1960, and 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 New Zealand for one season in 1953–54. In all he played in 174 first-class games, scoring 8,013 runs at an average of 27.53 with seven centuries and a highest score of 122. He also took 79 catches. In the 1980s and 1990s he was on the registration and discipline committee of the ECB and chair of the Northamptonshire cricket committee. He was President of the Northamptonshire club from 1996 to 2000. After moving to England, Arnold spent the rest of his life in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

. He built several successful businesses there, including Arnold Engineering Plastics Ltd. Married to Rosemary, he had two sons and two daughters. Upon the death of Iain Gallaway on 18 April 2021, Arnold became the oldest living New Zealand first-class cricketer. With Arnold's death aged 94 on 6 September 2021, that honour passed to Bill Crump.

References

External links

* * 1926 births 2021 deaths Cricketers from Wellington City New Zealand cricketers Canterbury cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers English cricket administrators People educated at St Bede's College, Christchurch {{NewZealand-cricket-bio-1920s-stub