Raymond Thomas Dowker (6 July 1919 – 17 December 2004) 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

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 ...

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. ...

between 1949 and 1957. A right-handed batsman, Dowker played 24 games – scoring 1,147 runs at 30.18 including one century, 122 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 ...

on 7 January 1955. Born in New Brighton, 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 / ...

Canterbury, New Zealand Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current f ...

, he was one of the ''New Zealand Cricket Almanack'' Players of the Year for 1955. With 366 runs at an average of 45.75, he was the highest scorer 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. In 1955-56 he captained Canterbury to outright victory in all four of their Plunket Shield matches, thus winning the trophy.A. D. Davidson, "The Plunket Shield, 1955-56", ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner e ...

'', 28 April 1956, pp. 122–24. Dowker was also a successful

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and won the 1945 Chatham Cup with

Western AFC Western A.F.C. is a semi-professional association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in the Robbie's Premier Football League. History 1913–1920 Western A.F.C kicked off in 1913 when a small group of keen soccer playe ...

. He went on to represent Canterbury at football in 1948. His grandsons have also been successful in New Zealand sport. The sons of his daughter Catherine Wheeler (née Dowker), Joe Wheeler and Ben Wheeler, have played Rugby and cricket respectively for regional and national teams.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowker, Ray 1919 births 2004 deaths Cricketers from Christchurch New Zealand cricketers Canterbury cricketers