Denis Andrew Robert "Sonny" Moloney (11 August 1910 – 15 July 1942) 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 striki ...

er who played three

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on New Zealand's 1937 tour of England. He died of his wounds after being captured at the

First Battle of El Alamein The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which included the under Field Marshal ...

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 opposin ...

.McCarron A (2010) ''New Zealand Cricketers 1863/64–2010'', p. 93. Cardiff:

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.
Available online
at 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 Stati ...

. Retrieved 5 June 2023.) Moloney was born at

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 ...

and educated at

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

in the city, where he represented the school at cricket, rugby and athletics.Died of wounds, ''

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'', issue 25172, 12 March 1943, p. 2.
Available online
at

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. Retrieved 25 November 2023.) A middle-order or opening batsman and leg-spin bowler, Sonny Moloney 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 ...

in New Zealand from the 1929–30 season to 1940–41, playing 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 ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

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, as well as playing

Hawke Cup The Hawke Cup is a non-first-class cricket competition for New Zealand's district associations. Apart from 1910–11, 1912–13 and 2000–01 the competition has always been on a challenge basis. To win the Hawke Cup, the challengers must beat t ...

cricket for Manawatu. His highest first-class score was 190, which he made opening Wellington's innings against

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in February 1937. His best bowling figures were 5 for 23 against

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three months later. Moloney toured England with the New Zealand team in 1937, playing in all three Test matches. On his debut in the first Test at

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he scored 64 in the first innings, adding 104 for the eighth wicket with

Alby Roberts Albert William Roberts (20 August 1909 – 13 May 1978) was a New Zealand Test cricketer who played in five Tests from 1930 to 1937. Career as a batsman Roberts made his first-class debut in 1927–28 at the age of 18 as a middle-order batsman ...

. He was one of the most successful players on the tour, making 1,463 runs at an

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of 34.83 and taking 57 wickets at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 26.68 in 26 first-class matches. He captained

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in the match against Sir Julien Cahn's XI in 1938–39. Moloney was working as the chief clerk for the National Insurance Company in Dunedin when he enlisted to serve in the Second World War. He was a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in 20 Infantry Battalion at the time of his death at the age of 31 on

Ruweisat Ridge Ruweisat Ridge is a geographical feature in the Western Egyptian desert, midway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Qattara Depression. During World War II was a prominent part of the defence line in the First and Second Battle of El Alamein ...

during the

. He was initially reported as missing in action before his death was confirmed in March 1943. He is buried at El Alamein War Cemetery. ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' reported his death in the 1945 edition, giving a date of death as 1943.Moloney Lieut. DAR, Supplementary deaths in the War 1942–43, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'', 1945.
Available online
at

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. Retrieved 25 November 2023.)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moloney, Sonny 1910 births 1942 deaths Cricketers from Dunedin People educated at Otago Boys' High School New Zealand Test cricketers Canterbury cricketers Otago cricketers Wellington cricketers New Zealand military personnel killed in World War II South Island cricketers