Shane Alexander Thomson (born 27 January 1969) is a former New Zealand international

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. He played as a genuine all-rounder, making 19

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and 56 One Day International appearances 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 ...

. Thomson was born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

in 1969. Thomson made his test debut against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1990 scoring 42 runs not out in the second innings. He had to wait for another year to play test cricket again, this time against Sri Lanka. He scored 36 and 55 in the second test and scored 80 not out in the second innings of the third test. Thomson had some good form on the 1994 tour to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. He top scored with 84 runs for New Zealand in the first test victory over South Africa in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

. He again top scored for New Zealand in the second test loss to South Africa with 82 runs.

Geoff Howarth Geoffrey Philip Howarth (born 29 March 1951) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former captain, who remains the only New Zealand captain to have positive win–loss records in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. He was the third most success ...

said of the batting effort in the second test "Shane Thomson's excellent innings apart, the first innings batting display put us under pressure". Ken Rutherford said of the batting: "we were all out for 185 thanks largely to a gutsy 82 by Thomson". The highlight of his test career was a match winning 120 not out against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

in 1994 In the third test, facing

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several crit ...

and

Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI (Punjabi, ur, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the great ...

, he shared a 154 run partnership with Bryan Young and hit 15 fours and 2 sixes in the five wicket win. At the Lords test, on the 1994 tour of England, Thomson scored a useful double of 69 and 38 not out in the drawn match. Thomson retired from first-class cricket in 1997 at the age of 28, having scored one century and five half-centuries in his 19 test career. "I didn't really retire, I just left the country". He said about his international career: "Playing cricket for New Zealand is tough, so you've got to savour those times when you win". He played club cricket for

Northern Districts The Northern Districts men's cricket team are one of six New Zealand first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. They are based in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand (excluding Auckland). They compete in the ...

. Thomson lives in Taupo and works as a property maintenance contractor. He is married and has three children. He has also been involved in property investment and exporting show jumping horses.

References

1969 births Living people Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup New Zealand cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand One Day International cricketers Northern Districts cricketers Cricketers from Hamilton, New Zealand North Island cricketers {{NewZealand-cricket-bio-1960s-stub