Roy Alexander James Blair (13 June 1921 – 31 May 2002) was a New Zealand

roller skater Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

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 golfer. He was born and died in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. He worked as a teacher, and in the Second World war served with the Air Force.

Skating

Blair was New Zealand's best roller skater between 1937 and 1941, winning 9 national titles on the 440 yards, 880 yards, and mile races. He competed in the

1938 Empire Games The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 year ...

. He then switched to speed skating, winning the quarter mile race at the national championships in 1947 and 1948.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 21. Cardiff:

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Statis ...

Cricket

A left-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler who played 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 ...

, Blair made a single first-class appearance for the side during the 1953–54 season, against

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 the opening order, he scored a duck in the first innings in which he batted, and when positioned further down in the order for the second innings, he scored 2 runs.Roy Blair
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-04-30. He was later a selector for Otago and worked as a schoolteacher. Blair's sons,

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

and Wayne, and uncle

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

also played first-class cricket.

References

1921 births 2002 deaths New Zealand male speed skaters Roller skaters New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers New Zealand military personnel of World War II {{NewZealand-cricket-bio-1920s-stub