Stephen Lewis Boock (born 20 September 1951) is a former

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 str ...

er who played 30

Tests 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), ...

and 14 One Day Internationals. He is the brother of sports journalist Richard Boock (biographer of

Bert Sutcliffe Bert Sutcliffe (17 November 1923 – 20 April 2001) was a New Zealand Test cricketer. Sutcliffe was a successful left-hand batsman. His batting achievements on tour in England in 1949, which included four fifties and a century in the Tests, e ...

) and award-winning novelist and screenwriter Paula Boock.

Domestic career

Boock was a

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin, Left-arm off spin also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of left-arm finger spin bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left-arm bowler using the fingers to spin ...

bowler and is one of a small number of New Zealanders to have taken over 600 first class wickets. After a Test against Pakistan at Wellington in 1985 he achieved a career high of 9th place in the ICC rankings for Test cricket (applied retrospectively, as the rankings were not introduced until 1987).

International career

Boock made his Test debut at Wellington in February 1978 in New Zealand's maiden Test victory over England. He made his first overseas tour a few months later in England and in the

Test Match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

at Trent Bridge conceded just 29 runs in a 28 over spell which included 18 maidens and 2 wickets. In 1979/80, at the dramatic conclusion to the First Test against

Clive Lloyd Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd (born 31 August 1944) is a Guyanese-British former cricketer who played for the West Indies cricket team. As a boy he went to Chatham High School in Georgetown. At the age of 14 he was captain of his school cricket team ...

's West Indians at Carisbrook, Dunedin, Boock joined Gary Troup at the crease with New Zealand 100 for 9 and needing four more runs to win this historic match. The two tail enders took the Black Caps to their first test win over the West Indies, and what would ultimately become their first series win over the Caribbean giants, when they scrambled through for a leg bye as scores were level. In a controversial tour, marred by umpiring disputes and some ugly on field behaviour by the tourists, New Zealand won the series 1–0 after drawing the next two tests in Christchurch and Auckland. In 1983–84 New Zealand won their first ever series over England and Boock took 4 for 37 at Christchurch. In 1984–85 against Pakistan at Niaz Stadium he took his career best innings figures of 7 for 87. In 1985–86, during the Black Caps' first Test series win over Australia, Boock had a rare success with the bat. He contributed 37 runs in a New Zealand record tenth-wicket partnership of 124 with

John Bracewell John Garry Bracewell (born 15 April 1958) is a former New Zealand cricketer who was most recently the coach of the Irish national team. He played 41 Test matches between 1980 and 1990, as well as 53 One Day Internationals. He was the second N ...

(83 not out) in the Second Test at the SCG. New Zealand won the series 2–1. Stephen Boock, when bowling for New Zealand against Pakistan in 1989, conceded the most runs for a New Zealander in a test innings. His 70 overs, 10 maidens for 1 wickets cost 229 runs. This was also the most expensive bowling figures in New Zealand first class cricket until 2010.

Life post-cricket

Boock and his wife owned a supermarket businesses from 1991 until their retirement in 2016. In 1992 he launched a high-profile campaign for Dunedin's mayoralty. He was unsuccessful, but was elected to the city council for the southern ward. Boock was a director of NZ Cricket for 10 years and was President of NZ Cricket from 2012 to 2016. He is Chairman of the Otago Special Olympics Trust.

Honours

In the

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, Boock was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

for services to sport and the community.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boock, Stephen 1951 births Living people Canterbury cricketers New Zealand One Day International cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Dunedin City Councillors Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup New Zealand sportsperson-politicians South Island cricketers