Raymond William George Emery (28 March 1915 – 18 December 1982) 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 str ...

er who played two

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

s 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 1952. He was also an officer in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Life and career

Ray Emery attended

Takapuna Grammar School Takapuna Grammar School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the suburb of Belmont on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Established in 1927, the school mainly serves the eponymous suburb of Takapuna and the entire Devo ...

in Auckland. He played one match for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

in 1936–37. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Emery joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force and served in Britain, flying

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

after training in Canada. He remained in the Air Force after the war, attaining the rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

. In 1947 he prepared a report on Australian civilian air traffic control utilising a rodoniscope, investigating its applicability to New Zealand. After three and a half years service in Britain, he returned to New Zealand and married Jean Millson at St Mary's Cathedral, Auckland, in July 1945. He played nine matches for Auckland from 1943–44 to 1947–48 without establishing himself in the side. Batting in the middle order, he scored 110 against Otago in 1945–46, and 123 against Wellington in 1946–47, but those were the only innings in which he reached 30. He moved to

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 Rive ...

in late 1947. Playing for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a 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. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

in 1950–51, he scored 240 runs at 30.00 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 ...

, including 110 against Wellington when he opened the batting for the first time and played the decisive innings in a low-scoring match. In 1951–52, still opening the batting, he made 433 runs at 72.16 in the Plunket Shield, with four 50s, and topped the national averages. At the time he was described as "one of the few New Zealand batsmen able to concentrate", batting "calmly, methodically, and capably". He and

Gordon Leggat John Gordon Leggat (27 May 1926 – 9 March 1973) was a New Zealand cricketer who played nine Test matches for New Zealand in the 1950s as an opening batsman. He was later a leading cricket administrator. His cousin Ian Leggat also played Test ...

(346 runs at 57.66) formed a strong opening pair that helped Canterbury win the Plunket Shield. Although he was nearly 37, he was selected for both Tests against the touring West Indies at the end of the 1951–52 season. He made 28 in an opening partnership of 44 with

Geoff Rabone Geoffrey Osborne Rabone (6 November 1921 – 19 January 2006), known as Geoff Rabone, was a cricketer who captained New Zealand in five Test matches in 1953–54 and 1954–55. Domestic career Geoff Rabone played for Wellington from 1940– ...

in the second innings of the First Test, and took the wickets of

Frank Worrell Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell (1 August 1924 – 13 March 1967), sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae, was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator. A stylish right-handed batsman and useful left-arm seam bowler, he became fam ...

and

Clyde Walcott Sir Clyde Leopold Walcott KA, GCM, OBE (17 January 1926 – 26 August 2006) was a West Indian cricketer. Walcott was a member of the "three W's", the other two being Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell: all were very successful batsmen from Barb ...

with his medium-pace bowling in the Second Test (2 for 52 off 46 balls), but otherwise had little impact. In the next two seasons he played four matches and scored only 80 runs. That was the end of his first-class career. In 1955 Emery returned to Auckland, where he was one of the leading figures in the establishment of

Auckland Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airport Oaks, a service hub suburb south of th ...

. One of the roads in the airport is named Ray Emery Drive after him.

David Frith David Edward John Frith (born 16 March 1937) is a cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of ''Wisden Cricket Monthly''". Life and career David Frith was born in Gloucester Place in Lo ...

, ''Silence of the Heart'', Random House, London, 2011.

References

External links

Ray Emery at Cricket Archive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emery, Ray 1915 births 1982 deaths People educated at Takapuna Grammar School Auckland cricketers Canterbury cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers New Zealand military personnel of World War II Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel Military personnel from Auckland

Life and career

See also

References

External links